The New Girl
by Kalsypher
Summary: AU. Moving to a new place is hard on anyone. But, when your attention seeking step sister enjoys telling the world about your abusive father who is now rotting in jail, the sympathy begins to way on your shoulders. Plus, her father and my mother are a kinda hard on me. So, feel free to join me on my quest to survive high school, family drama, and possibly a new job! Sasori x OC
1. Moving

I had gotten lucky when we moved over the summer. I wasn't excited about leaving my friends, but I was glad I wouldn't be that awkward new student that just appeared in the middle of the school year. I would be the awkward new student with the other awkward new students.

Leaving Uzushio was the least of my problems though. Mom and her new husband, Kenta had gotten jobs in this new place. Ame I think it was called. But they had spouted off so many names, I wasn't even sure where we were going.

We were leaving Uzushio because my father had been arrested for abuse. Not that he was the only one doing the abuse… Just Mom never left any marks.

The hits I got were my fault though. Mom and Dad would get into a fight, and I would try to separate them then I would try to separate them and I'd get hit in the crossfire. But whatever.

I doubted things would change when we got to wherever we were going. I looked at the girl sitting next to me. My…Mom wanted me to call her my sister. No, I was 16. I knew what family meant.

My silver-blue eyes landed on the woman in the passenger seat, tightly holding the man's hand who was driving. Though she had given birth to me and I called her my mother, she was no mother to me. Not by a long shot.

Just like the teen sitting next to me, staring out the window with a bored gaze would never be my sister. We knew each other at school and we didn't get along. Living together would not change that. It would probably make it more evident.

My gaze wandered back out the window. Wherever we were going…there would be a new life waiting. Without the worry of anyone finding out about my home life…at least I hoped that would be the case.

With Akemi, the girl that was now my step-sister and her dire need of attention, she spread the story like wildfire on a windy day in a dry forest. The entire school would probably know that my father was in prison.

As I stared out the window, I contemplated that thought. I was ashamed of him, who wouldn't be? But…I didn't want their sympathy. I made that very clear when I met Kenta and Akemi. Mom almost slapped me when they left.

I knew then…nothing had changed.

Hours went by. I didn't speak to Akemi and she didn't speak to me. Mom and Kenta spoke, trying to start up a conversation. While I gave short, direct answers, Akemi gave long, detailed answers.

She enjoyed exposing herself…or lying.

Finally, the car stopped in front of a two story house. I never even saw the name of the town we were in. That was annoying…

I climbed out, closing the door and stared at the white, dull house. There were three windows on the top floor, two indicating rooms then one on top, for an attic.

Mom looked at me, "Sweetheart, it's only got two bedrooms. I knew you wouldn't mind sleeping in the attic."

I raised an eyebrow at her accusation. What if I had wanted the room? Would I have to fight Akemi for it or would I have ended up in the attic anyway? Would they have bought a house with three bedrooms?

"Tch, whatever," I grumbled as I pulled my bag out of the car and slung it over my shoulder and walked in.

I knew I would have hell to pay for that sort of reaction, but she deserved it. Just assuming I would take the attic.

The house was nice. We'd have a lot of painting to do, but not much remodeling unless they just absolutely hated tile floors. I would probably have a lot to change, and probably would need to figure out how safe it was for me to actually live in the attic. Knowing Mom and Kenta they were just looking at the price and agreed.

I went up the wooden stairs and found the string to the attic. I was probably going to change that to something more decorative. When I unfolded the ladder, I sighed when I unfolded the ladder…or what was left of it.

That…sucked.

I walked down the stairs with a sigh, "Mom, we need to go to the hardware store."

"What on earth for?" She asked clearly annoyed with the thought.

"I can't get in the attic. The ladder is broken," I told her.

"Why did you break it?" Kenta asked angrily.

I shot him a glare, "I didn't break it. You bought it broke."

He looked ready to hit me, but he refrained himself when the chime of a doorbell rang through the house. I walked through the house to see who my savior was. To my dismay, it wasn't a new neighbor, it was just the movers.

They put all the boxes inside the house and fortunately had a ladder to get my stuff to my new room…that didn't have a floor…or walls…

It was just rafters and insulation and a light hanging from a few wires. I pinched the bridge of my nose with a sigh. I was sleeping on the couch for the next…week or more. More likely more than less.

I sighed as I jumped out, landing on the ground with a thud, but still on my feet.

Akemi glared at me as she walked by with her box in her hands. "Watch it."

I didn't say anything as I walked around her, going to the master bedroom where Kenta and my mother were.

"Mom, I don't have a room," I told her.

"Sure you do," she said. "You just have to buy a ladder."

I just had to…not her because she didn't make the mistake.

"It's rafters and insulation. No walls, no floor. The light is hanging from exposed wires. We've got to remodel."

"I hope you have the money for it," Kenta said. "We spent our last on this home so you and Akemi would be happy."

Yes, I was certain my happiness was a part of the selection.


	2. New Neighbors

I walked to the hardware store. The five minute drive was a fifteen minute walk. Hate to bitch, but I couldn't buy a ladder. And I was not about to ask someone to give me a ride. I mean, I just moved to…somewhere.

When I walked in, I went to the ladders and just stared at them. I had no idea what I was looking at. They all looked the same. Except some were wood and some were metal.

The more I thought about it, the more I wanted a metal ladder. I would be going up and down that thing A LOT and be carrying some heavy stuff, which was going to suck. I groaned as my mind shifted into over drive realizing all the crap I would need. But, first, a ladder.

I didn't go straight home. We had moved into a suburb, something practically unheard of in Uzushio.

I wandered around, just looking at all the houses, some almost identical to my own. Others had similar characteristics, but had been remodeled to the owners' individuality. Some had gardens and trees. Some had children toys. Some didn't cut their yard. There were a lot of personalities in the area.

And we had our own park! I walked to it and watched the children play for a while. Uzushio didn't have parks like this. We had one at the school, but not in the city. We made our own entertainment at home.

I made my way back home and walked into the house.

"Where have you been?" Kenta asked.

"Exploring the neighborhood," I told him.

"Get your boxes out of the way," he spat. "They're in the way."

"Where do you want me to put them?" I shot back. "I can't put them in my room. There's no way to get up there. You won't let me get my license or take me to the store and I'm not walking to the store just to carry the stupid thing back."

He slammed me against the wall, "Don't pull that attitude with me," he whispered lowly. "You may have avoided a beating with your father, but you won't avoid it with me."

I didn't look away from his eyes, "You really think that sort of talk is going to scare me? Hit me for all I care. It just proves how little of a man you really are."

He went to hit me, but refrained himself and stormed off. I smirked a bit. There was always a way to mess with people's heads and I always won those fights. I sighed as I stacked my boxes against the wall. Since they had decided to use the garage, I couldn't stay in there. This was getting more annoying with every passing moment.

Mom walked up to me and popped me. "How dare you speak to him like that."

I rubbed my cheek with a glare, "Some mother you are."

She hit me again, "I'm tired of your mind games and I'm not falling for it anymore. I told him not to listen to you anymore. Just hit you as hard as he wanted when you smarted off like that. You pathetic waste of space. We start work tomorrow. I expect a ladder to be installed by tomorrow."

"You can bite me, hag," I told her. "I'm not carrying a 40 pound ladder from the hardware store."

"Then get someone to drive you back," she told me with a glare as she placed her hands on her hips.

"Oh, just so Akemi can tell you all about the stranger that dropped me off and you can hit me then too," I shot back. "Yes, that's a brilliant idea. You know, I don't do this for fun."

She looked ready to hit me again, "You must. Otherwise you wouldn't make me angry all the time. Just looking at you makes me angry."

"That's not my problem," I growled. "You're the one that needs therapy. You're the one that should be in prison with Dad. Along with Kenta now. Giving him permission to hit me, what sort of mother are you? You don't care about me. You never have."

She hit me again. I was sure she wondered why I just took it. Why I didn't fight back. But that was the point. To make her wonder. She would break eventually. When that happened, it would destroy her. And that would be the day she would beg for forgiveness and mercy.

I woke up to something hard hitting me. I stared at the block of wood then looked at Akemi who had an annoyed look on her face as she held the car keys in her hand.

"I'm supposed to take you to the store," she told me. "Get up and get ready. It's already 7."

I picked up the block of wood and placed it on the table in front of the couch I had slept on and walked up to her. "I'll take your insults, but if you even consider hitting me again, I will show you the meaning of pain."

She just scoffed and walked away.

I would hate to have to stay true to my word. I sighed as I pulled some clothes from my box and went to the bathroom I had to share with Akemi. After a quick shower and a quick inspection to see if I needed makeup to cover up anything, I got dressed and was ready to go.

Akemi drove to the hardware store and left me alone to flirt with the guy that greeted us, telling my life story of how my abusive father beat and raped me, which both were untrue, though I had been hit in the crossfire when he tried to hit my mother, but I was never raped.

I could feel his look of sympathy as I walked to the ladders.

When I got to the ladders, I heard over the radio on the guy that worked somewhere nearby for someone to help me and the brief story summary was echoed around me. Before I knew it, someone was at my side.

The same sympathetic look on his face, "You need-"

"No," I said sharply. "Not from you. I'll do it myself."

His brown eyes widened for a moment, "I just wanted to help. Not everyone is out to hurt you."

I glared at him, "But everyone is out to give me sympathy. Because they believe I'm some weak, fragile thing. They don't see me as a person. They see me as a victim. If she said I was some schizophrenic psycho that had a personality for every day of the week and today I believed I was a four year old with an imaginary friend named Juju, what would you have done then? Left me alone?"

He was silent as he stared at me.

"But, as you can tell, I'm fine."

I grabbed a metal ladder that was much heavier than I thought and walked away. When I got to the cashier, she gave me the same smile. I gave her an emotionless stare as she scanned the ladder, a bit uneasy about the look I was giving her. After I swiped my card, I walked out with Akemi giggling as she followed me.

"There's a special place in hell for people like you," I told her.

"Really?" She asked. "And where's that?"

"Right next to me," I said as I put the ladder in the trunk.

She had a slightly terrified look. For someone that wasn't religious, she did believe in an afterlife and for a lack of a better place to call it, she called it heaven and hell. I believed in karma. And she was going to get what was coming to her.

When we got back home, I took the ladder up the stairs and began working on taking the rotted wooden off. With the metal ladder to stand on it was a lot easier. But, installing the metal ladder was harder. I climbed into the attic and figured out how to do it from there.

Ok, the ladder was done. And it only took…three hours.

I sighed as I climbed down. Someone knocked at the door and I heard Akemi answer it. I leaned over the railing to see who it was.

"I'm here to install the cable," he announced.

Of course he would be.

Akemi let him in and started talking to him while he worked. I just stayed upstairs. By the time he was done, it was already 3:30.

Did it really take that long to install cable?

I walked down the stairs. Akemi was giggling and waving at him while he walked out. I went to the kitchen to find…no food. I sighed and closed the refrigerator.

"What?" Akemi asked.

"I'm leaving," I told her. "If they get back before I do, I'm getting food."

"Why?"

I walked out. If she was too stupid to figure out why people went to get food, she didn't deserve and answer. I paused when I noticed someone was walking up our walkway. It was a blonde woman with a plate of something.

"Oh, is this a bad time?" she asked.

"No, Akemi is inside," I told her. "Is there something I can help you with?"

"No," she said with a smile. "I noticed the movers yesterday, and I thought it would be nice to welcome you to the neighborhood. I'm Teruko. I live across the road. If you ever need anything, don't hesitate to ask, but please don't ask my son, Deidara. He's got some problems."

"Um, thanks," I said with a smile. "And after we get settled, feel free to ask for whatever, even Deidara," I grinned.

Her face paled slightly, "Better not say that too loudly. He'll be over here all the time asking for stuff to blow up."

I laughed slightly, "I'll remember that."

"Well, I'll give this to Akemi, then," she said. "Is she your sister?"

"Step," I said. "But, whatever story she tells you about me, don't believe it. It didn't happen."


	3. Minivan Ride

Teruko flashed a brilliant smile as I stepped out of her way and went to the door then rang the doorbell. What a happy woman. I shrugged it off and started walking towards town.

I was about to walk out of the neighborhood when a minivan pulled up next to me and the window rolled down. I gave a slight uneasy smile to Teruko, who was in the passenger's seat, "Hi…again," I greeted.

"Where are you going?" She asked kindly. "Would you like us to take you?"

"J-Just going for some food," I told her. "No big deal. I'm sure I'll find something."

She gave me a sympathetic smile, "Buana," I cringed, "The closest restaurant is a fifteen minute drive from here. Let us take you."

Couldn't argue with that.

"Thank you Mrs. Teruko," I said as I heard the minivan unlock and I opened the door to see a very annoyed teen sitting in the other seat and two fighting kids in the back seat. When he looked at me, he just sighed and looked out the window. Someone's got a man period today…

He looked a lot like Teruko, and he had long hair like she did. He had long bangs that covered his left eye but the eye I could see was an incredible blue, and most of his hair was left down while a portion was pulled back in a high ponytail. He was dressed in a black t-shirt and baggy black jeans.

I closed the minivan's door and buckled up, then looked at the fighting kids in the back. One was a boy and one was a girl. The boy had messy brown hair and bright green eyes while the girl had brown hair that was braided and the same green eyes.

They were fighting over the coolest show on the television. I hadn't even heard of the shows they were talking about.

The girl suddenly looked at me, "So, Aunty Teruko said your name was Buana."

The boy sniggered.

I cringed again, "Yes, but you can call me Boots."

I noticed her attention go to my feet, "But you're not wearing boots."

"My grandmother used to call me Boots," I told her. "When I was younger I wouldn't wear anything but Boots, and she thought it was better than Buana." I looked at the girl, "What's your name?"

"Lily," she replied with a shy smile. "And this is my brother, Kenny!"

So it was a safe bet that I was sitting next to the pyro, Deidara.

"And I am Mikio," the man driving introduced. "And next to you is our son, Deidara."

I sighed, "Mrs. Teruko, out of my own curiosity, what did my sister tell you?"

"For you to say none of its true, it's quite a story," she said.

"There is…truth to it," I said quietly. "But, I would like to know the story so you don't think too badly of my family."

She sighed, "Kids, will you put your headphones in?"

God, I hadn't even thought of the children…

"I'm so sorry," I said quietly. "I didn't even think about them…"

She gave me a sad smile, "They understand better than you think, but they don't need to hear it."

That broke my heart as I looked back at the two kids playing whatever games they were playing with their headphones in their ears.

"She told me you were beaten and raped by your father. That you had tried to kill yourself on more than one occasion. He was finally arrested last year."

"Dad never hit me on purpose," I said. "The few times he did hit me were because I was trying to stop him from hitting my mom. I've never been raped. And I've never tried to kill myself."

"You carry a lot of anger," she noted. "I'm a psychiatrist for children. But I know when adults are having problems as well."

I chuckled a bit, "Mom was the abuser in our home," I told her. "Dad hit her for hitting me. I don't know why I protected her. I guess because he actually left marks while Mom didn't leave any. Oh, hey Deidara."

He looked at me, his face completely emotionless.

"Do you know how to use a nail gun?" I asked.

"What kind of question is that, un?" He asked.

"…The one I asked," I said simply. "I'm terrified of them."

He sniggered, "You're afraid of nail guns, un?"

"I will come across this van," I told him. "And you do not want a piece of this. I look small, but I am vicious."

"Why, un?"

"I'm doing some remodeling," I answered vaguely.

"Already?" Teruko asked. "What's wrong with the house?"

"It's two bedroom with four people living in it," I expressed dully.

"Who's sleeping on the couch?" Mikio asked.

"I am," I sighed heavily.

"What room did you get, un?" Deidara asked.

"The attic," I said. "If it was actually in room-shape that would be fine. But the insulation is exposed and I have to cover it. But Mom and Kenta won't hire a contractor to do it because 'they don't have the money because they spent it all on the house.' They just knew I would be fine with the attic."

Deidara sighed, "Yeah, I can use a nail gun. And I'm pretty good at painting too, if you need any help, un."

"Maybe," I said quietly. "But it should just be the nail gun cause I'm at a loss."

"What are you doing for the floor?" Mikio asked.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Carpet, wood, what?"

I sighed, "I haven't even thought that far ahead. Probably wood."

I could see Mikio grin, "I know someone. Don't worry about the floor."

"Mr. Mikio you-"

"No," he said. "You need all the help you can get. Think of it as a welcome to the neighborhood."

I blinked, "But-"

"Another one," he told me.

Generosity…one of the better human traits.

"Just don't give Deidara anything flammable," he joked.

I thought Deidara's world had ended by his expression.

I simply smiled, "I'll take you to shoot some fireworks, but that is it."

Teruko looked at me with wide eyes.

I pointed at Deidara, "His face was so sad. I couldn't say no."

"You get used to it," she told me. "Believe me. You get used to it."


	4. Poker Night

The car ride was pretty quiet except for the arguing kids. I heard Deidara growl and I knew he was about to crack.

"Shut up!" He yelled at the two.

"Dei, tell Kenny that girls aren't yucky!" Lily yelled.

I chuckled quietly. From Deidara's sigh, they had had this conversation before. I looked out the window to get familiar with the city.

Compared to the countryside of a town I had grown up in, this place was very…crowded. I wasn't sure if I would like it here.

We passed a large mall, some smaller malls, a hospital, the corporate center, Uchiha Industries, where Kenta worked, and some restaurants.

I was starting to think they had kidnapped me until the car stopped and turned off.

The kids suddenly groaned. "Why do we have to eat here?" Kenny asked.

I got out of the car and put my arm around the two to make sure they didn't try to run into traffic then closed the minivan door as I looked at the restaurant. I wasn't one to judge places, but it did look fancier than what I was used to. But I cooked my food most of the time. Eating out made me sick. But I was grateful for the offer.

As I followed them inside, I watched the people that were here. They weren't like the people I was used to. Of course, in Uzushio everyone knew everyone. Before the end of the year, I was certain everyone would know of me, thanks to Akemi.

The place was fancier than any place I had ever been. Then again, I had a limited amount of experience of public places. It seemed like an Italian place and by how quickly we were getting seated, we were meeting someone here or they had reservations. I felt bad for intruding.

I blinked at the amount of people at the long table. Holy…hell. There was an entire other family. Well, just four. A boy around Lily and Kenny's age, a teen guy around Deidara and my age, then their parents. The little boy was just adorable as he colored.

The teen smirked at Deidara, "When I heard there was another coming, I thought it was Sasori. I thought you'd tell me you had a girlfriend."

Deidara sighed as I took the seat next to him and rested his head on his hand, "She's my neighbor, un. She just moved here. She was walking out of the neighborhood when Mom decided to kidnap her and bring her along, un."

I noticed the similarities between Deidara and this teen. Both had incredibly long hair. This teen had black hair that was tied into a low ponytail and had the sides cut then what look like annoying shorter fringe that kept falling into his eyes. His eyes were black. He was dressed in a black button up with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows.

"My name is Itachi Uchiha," he introduced.

My eyes widened slightly, "As in Uchiha Industries?"

He sighed slightly, "Yes."

"I'm Boots," I said with a smile. "And your business is the reason we moved here. Kenta got a job with your business."

"Where did you move from?" He asked curiously.

"Uzushio," I replied.

"His background check mentioned a wife by the name of Reiko and her daughter Buana," I cringed at Itachi's information and memory of it. "Who is Buana?"

"My name is Buana," I told him. "My grandparents called me Boots and everyone has agreed that was a much better name."

"And your father is in jail?" Itachi asked.

"Man, you're thorough," I said. "Yes, he's in jail."

"Uchiha Industries is not under my control yet," Itachi informed me. "Was hiring Kenta a good idea?"

"I don't know how he acts at work, but if it's the same way he acts at home, you're in trouble," I said quietly. "But, give him a test drive. I don't really know how he is at work. He might be what saves your business…or ruins it."

Itachi rested his hands under his chin, "How do you mean?"

I gestured to Deidara, "He'll tell you."

That's when I noticed Itachi's nails were also painted. But they looked purple.

As we ate, I was introduced to Itachi's family. Fugaku was the head of Uchiha Industries, his wife Mikoto was the one that had read over Kenta's résumé and recommended him to Itachi for hire, and their youngest son was Sasuke.

"How are you liking Ame?" Itachi asked. "Have you been here long?"

"Just since yesterday," I replied. "And I've liked Deidara and you and your families. So, I guess. It's definitely not the countryside I'm used to."

Ame…so that's where I was.

"Are you looking for a job?" Itachi asked.

My eyes widened at the thought of working for Uchiha Industries.

"No," Deidara said sternly. "She isn't ready for that, un."

I looked at him, suddenly confused about what was going on. "Not ready for what?" I asked.

"Nothing," he replied as he went back to eating.

The pair of teens dropped the issue after that. But I didn't.

Teruko made Deidara walk me home even though it was across the street. I stopped at the sidewalk before we were at my house, "What job am I not ready for?" I asked firmly.

Deidara put his hand on the top of my head, a playful smile on his face, "Once you meet Sasori, you'll understand, un. Just pray you don't meet him. You're playing with fire, trying to get to know me, un."

I blinked, "Was that supposed to be some pyro joke?"

He blinked as well, "No. It could be, I guess, un."

I smiled, "I'll see you tomorrow."

"For what, un?" He asked clearly caught off by me inviting myself to his house.

"We have to talk about my room and supplies and stuff," I reminded him. His eyes softened slightly as he looked away, unable to meet my gaze. I merely nodded, "That's fine," I said gently. "Can you at least take me to the store? I can't drive."

"Yeah, un."

"Goodnight, Deidara. It was nice meeting you," I said as I went to my house.

I wasn't one with super senses. I could only tell really intense gazes apart when they were on me. And…Deidara felt guilty as he watched me walk into the house. He was just talking big in front of his parents, no intention of helping. He had no idea what I was dealing with at home.

The moment the door closed, I barely dodged a vase that broke against the door by my face. I stared at my mother who was glaring hatefully at me.

"Just where the hell have you been?" She asked through gritted teeth.

"With the neighbors," I replied. "They picked me up when I told them I was going to get something to eat. There aren't any restaurants near here and we don't have any food."

She slammed me against the wall. "Don't lie to me. It doesn't take four hours to eat!"

"They had guests," I told her. "They were talking business."

"What kind of business?" She hissed.

"It didn't concern me," I told her as calmly as I could. "I talked to the people my age. The neighbor's son and the guest's son."

Her slap was much harder than any I had ever felt before. Or maybe it wasn't. She had broken my skin because her rings were turned and the metal had snagged my face from the force. I could feel the blood dripping down my face as I looked at her.

She growled. "Kenta will take that look off your face. You won't be so prideful once he's done."

She stormed off towards the kitchen. A few minutes later, Kenta came back with…a poker? He must have had a fireplace in his previous house. I wasn't certain why he would have brought it with him. The house didn't have a fireplace. Unless it was specifically meant for this…

The first blow hurt the most when I tried to block it and missed. It slammed against my ribs knocking me to the ground. I didn't surrender to the pain though it hurt like hell. He continued the beating for at least an hour, then tossed the poker away as he panted.

"You better have learned your lesson, girl," he hissed at me. "I'll use that sharp end next time."

Even though I was clearly in serious pain, I smirked up at him. "Is that a promise or a threat?" I asked weakly.

That pushed him to his limit earning me a kick to the stomach. I lost the little air I was able to breathe in and tried my best to get it back.

After a few moments, I caught my breath. Everyone had gone to bed. I merely chuckled finding the situation amusing in only a way I could. If they chose, they could beat me like this every single day. I would never tell the cops and they knew that. It wasn't because I was afraid of them. It was because I knew one day they would break themselves.

They were trying so hard to break me. Eventually, they would probably have to turn to Akemi and just beat her for no reason at all. It didn't matter what she did. Since she was Kenta's child, she was perfect.

I carefully grabbed clothes from my box and wandered to the bathroom. After a shower, I got dressed and wandered to the couch and collapsed on it.

I wasn't on it for two minutes before I heard something tapping quietly on the window. I sighed as I got up and went to the window, draping my blanket around me and opening the curtains. Deidara.

I pushed the window open and stepped out then closed it behind me. "I'm not in the mood for talking so make it quick," I told him.

"I…heard the vase," he said while rubbing the back of his neck. "I just wanted to make sure you were ok, un."

Something inside me broke. A…wall…I guess. As I stared at those blue eyes that were studying the scratches on my face, there was concern and there was care. Two emotions no one had ever bothered to show me.

I looked away from him, unable to accept his care. "I'm fine. Go home."

I felt slightly invaded when he took the blanket from me, making me completely vulnerable to him. I slept in tank tops to let them see what they did. Most of the time there were no bruises, but this time there would be. Kenta had used a cast iron poker…he was going to leave a mark.

Deidara had an amused smile on his lips, "What do you call not fine, un?"

"Dead," I replied bluntly. "I'm fine with that too. So I guess there isn't really a limit to me not being fine."

A thoughtful gaze took his eyes as they glassed over for a moment. He was thinking back to something, but his eyes had become dark. They were evil…almost…murderous?

I took a step back, my fear of being near him greater than actually needing his comfort. He blinked a few times coming back from his thoughts when he noticed I had moved.

A…chummy…smile came to his lips. Everything about him was completely different than what I had just seen. He was completely lighthearted other than the concern he had about me. "Sorry, un."

"What was that?" I asked quietly.

His eyes softened again as he looked away. "I've done worse than what happened to you," he replied just as quietly. He looked at me a gentle smile on his lips, "Not everyone is who you believe, Boots, un. Remember that. I'll see you in the morning, if you can move, un."

He ruffled my hair and I glared at him. "Jerk."

He gave me the blanket and I climbed back in through the window and locked it back and collapsed on the couch. As I stared at the ceiling I had two thoughts before I fell asleep.

Give Deidara my number so he wouldn't knock on the window at midnight.

And

Deidara was officially my new best friend.

First thing after my mom and Kenta left, Akemi left to go get breakfast and 'get to know people' or so she said. Knowing her, she already knew everyone. So, I went across the street to Deidara's house and knocked on the door.

I wasn't surprised when Deidara answered the door, but I was surprised he answered it shirtless. Not that I was going to complain.

He was HOT. As he rested his arm above his head while leaning against the doorway, I could see the lean muscles in his arms. The day before I either hadn't noticed or hadn't paid attention to how muscular he was. But he definitely cared about how he looked. With beautiful pecs and an amazing six pack, he was some sort of god.

Then I remembered what he told me…

He had done more damage than what I had received.

"Like what you see?" Deidara finally asked with a smirk.

I winked at him as I pushed by, "I'm sure if I was standing shirtless in front of you, you wouldn't complain either."

"I'm not covered in bruises," he said as he closed the door. "And my face isn't beat up."

I knew I picked the right asshole for the job of being my best friend…


	5. Breakfast with Deidara

Deidara got me a glass of orange juice and told me to help myself to the small variety of breakfast. Lily and Kenny were happy with the pancakes they had. I smiled a bit as I picked up some bacon.

Lily looked up at me, "Are you Dei's girlfriend now?"

"No," I told her.

"I don't believe you," Kenny told me. "He used to sneak out to see his last girlfriend. He went to see you last night."

Observant kids.

"And what happened to your face?" Kenny asked bluntly. "You look like you got attacked by a crazy cat."

Good enough for me.

"I fell into a thorn bush last night," I told him. "Deidara scared me. Thorns in my face. Wonderful experience."

"You know Dei's last girlfriend broke up with him because she said he was prettier than her?" Lily told me.

I almost laughed, but I held it back while Deidara walked into the kitchen.

"Is there a reason you're crying, un?" Deidara asked.

I was crying?

I wiped my tears away and sniffled, "No. Sorry, I'm fine."

"We were telling her about that girl you were dating," Kenny said. "The one that thought you were prettier than her."

I sniggered and looked away, biting my lip so I wouldn't laugh. I felt something hard hit me in the back of the head.

"Hey!" I yelled as I rubbed the sore spot and glared at Deidara. "Don't I get that enough at home?"

"They don't have a reason," he told me. "That had purpose, un."


	6. Being Broken

Teruko walked into the kitchen and smiled at me, "Good morning, Boots. It's nice to see you again."

I was glad she didn't say anything about my face. Then again, Deidara might have said something about it.

"She fell into a thorn bush," Kenny said.

I withheld my sigh as I smiled.

"While Dei was visiting her last night," Lily clarified.

The children sniggered as Teruko sighed. "Children, that is enough. Stop trying to get him in trouble. He told me he was going to Boots' house last night."

That ended their fun.

Deidara smirked though his mother shot him a look that said 'we'll talk about this later'.

"Deidara, go put a shirt on," his mother said.

"She likes it, un."

His mother shot him a look and he walked out of the kitchen.

She sighed, "Sorry about that."

I smiled a bit, "It's fine. I appreciated him coming last night. It was thoughtful. Even though I fell in a thorn bush."

She gave me a slightly sympathetic look, but I knew she just wanted to hear the whole story of what happened. When the kids finished breakfast, they rushed away to go do whatever upstairs.

I sighed as I sat at the kitchen table, taking off my jacket.

"Oh my God," Teruko said. "What did that?"

"A poker," I said as I looked at the bruises. "It doesn't hurt as bad as it looks. Really, it's just my ribs that are sore. He got me pretty good there."

"He?" She asked. "Your father is in jail, right?"

"Dad never hit me on purpose either," I reminded her. "Kenta is a different story. He'll take whatever opportunity and excuse he can get."

"What caused this?"

"How late I came in last night," I lied.

No need in making her worry.

"You aren't supposed to be here, are you?" She asked.

I looked at my hands, "No."

"I understand," she said quietly. "And you don't have to worry. But, I do want to know why you protect them."

I looked at her, "I don't protect them. Well, I guess it is protecting them in a way, but I know that one day they'll break. They play favorites. Akemi, who is Kenta's is the wild one, but behaves at home. I'm not a party person, I'm just headstrong and I'm going to push my limits. Even if that means getting beat. I want to push other people until they break because they push me until I break. But they won't break me."

She nodded. "You have quite the dilemma. I don't think Kenta will back down, though your mother will be on the verge of giving in soon. Now that you've met my son and Itachi, I'm afraid your will to rebel against them will only become stronger. Your mother may come to accept it, but if Kenta does not, he may kill you. And if he does…with the friendship you're forming with Deidara…"

She just stopped and sighed.

He had done worse than what I had been through. I wondered if she knew. I didn't ask. My chair suddenly tipped back and I desperately tried to grab onto the table but then found myself staring up at an amused Deidara.

"Something wrong, un?"

"Dirt bag," I muttered.

"Ready to go, un?"

"I don't know, Barbie," I replied sarcastically. "Do you need to go back upstairs and paint your nails again?"

He glared at me while I smiled. "I still want to borrow it."

"Where are you going?" Teruko asked.

"The hardware store," Deidara replied. "We need to figure out what we have to get for her room, un."

"Shouldn't you measure it?" Teruko asked.

Deidara sighed, "Fine. Let's go measure your room, un."

I slipped on my jacket and we went back to my house then I took him to the attic.

He just stared at it, "They wanted you to live here, un?"

"Yeah. Lucky me."

I didn't know he even had a measuring tape on him or a sketch pad. His footsteps were completely silent as he moved across the rafters that creaked under my weight. I was pretty sure I was lighter than him. At least, I looked lighter than he did.

When he finished measuring everything, he put away the sketch pad and measuring tape then smiled at me. "Let's go, un."

I blinked, "Now you're all excited about helping me. What's up with that? You don't just change your mind over night, Deidara."

"Well, I had a little convincing this morning," he said. "How are you going to explain the bruises, un?"

"No one's going to see them," I told him. "Your mother asked and I showed her. Two kids told too much." I stopped him from going down the ladder. "Deidara, what have you done that's worse than this? Does your mom know?"

His blue eyes studied me for a moment, "Itachi's in with it too, un. We're dangerous, Boots. You don't cross us or the people we care about without paying a price. That's all I can tell you, un."

I nodded, "Don't…don't hurt them. If I ever make it to that…don't hurt them. I'm doing my own damage."

Deidara ruffled my hair. "You won't ever make it," he told me with a smile. "Don't worry about that, un."

I rolled my eyes and slid down the ladder. We went back to his car, which I found out was actually his, and went to the hardware store. How we would get what we needed in it, I had no idea. Maybe the backseat could lay flat or something.

When we got to the hardware store, we walked around forever, people still giving me sympathetic looks.

"What's up with this, un?" Deidara asked.

"I had to come here and buy a ladder then Akemi told everyone I was beaten and raped by my father. I'm sure being with you isn't helping."

"No, it's not, un," Deidara admitted. "Oh, Sasori's here, un."

"Wonderful. More scary friends."

Deidara wacked me in the back of the head. I glared at him as we approached the silent red head that was staring at some wood. His dark mahogany eyes showed how engrossed he was on the many options that lay before him. All I saw was wood. I wondered what it was he did for fun or maybe he made a profit from it.

"Another girlfriend, Deidara?" He asked, not bothering to look at either of us.

"No," Deidara replied. "She's new in town. Her name's Boots, un."

He didn't respond or show any care as he stared at the wood.

I looked at Deidara, hoping for an answer to my unspoken question.

Deidara just stared back at me, "What? I already told you his name, un."

I sighed, "You're useless."

I turned my attention back to Sasori, who seemed slightly offended by my statement. He had a sparkle of that look Deidara had in his eyes the night before. "You seem to know a lot about wood, what do you plan on using it for?"

He didn't respond. I must have offended him more than I thought. I sighed, "Well, sorry for offending you." I looked at Deidara, "I'm going to go see if I can make someone feel guilty."

"You did that by walking in here, un," Deidara replied.

"Yeah, I'm going to be a jerk about it. Can I have the sketch pad?"

Deidara handed it to me and I stared at it. It was a perfect replica of my room.

"Wow," I said quietly. "This is incredible, Deidara."

Deidara grinned widely, "Told you Sasori. Even basic designs can be art, un."

I looked at him, "I wouldn't call it art, but you have incredible talent."

Deidara glared at me while a slight smirk formed on Sasori's face.

"You have my attention, girl," Sasori said, his voice cold but still emotionless. "Anyone that is not Deidara's girlfriend and can convince him to come inside this place is worthy of my notice. What project are you working on?"

I handed him the sketch pad. "That's supposed to be my room. It's rafters and insulation and a light hanging on some wires."

"Do you have a budget?" Sasori asked.

"Sort of," I replied. "I kind of just want a floor and some walls right now."

"Who's installing it?" He asked.

"I am," I replied.

Sasori gave me an unreadable look. He was very…blank. I guessed emotions weren't his thing.

"How?"

"I have no idea," I replied. "I'm still trying to figure out an alternative to a nail gun."

"Why can't you use a nail gun?"

"She's afraid of them, un," Deidara replied.

I glared at him.

"You're supposed to be at home!" Someone yelled.

I was so screwed. All three of us looked at Akemi.

"I'm fixing my room," I told her.

"Just wait until Dad hears about this," she said.

Her eyes wandered to Deidara, "Unless your friend here wants to make up for it."

I stepped in front of him, "Keep walking, Akemi. Come at him again and I assure you I will not be the only victim of that poker."

She just giggled, "Nice face."

Sasori didn't seem interested in what had just happened, but he asked. "Poker?"

"I don't want to talk about it," I said angrily as I watched Akemi walk away.

"How much trouble are you going to be in, un?" Deidara asked.

"Drop it, Deidara," I told him. "It's none of your business."

"We'll need Itachi for the project," Sasori said.

I looked at him, "I'm working on it alone."

"Not anymore," Sasori said.

His eyes moved to Deidara. Obviously I had missed something. I looked at Deidara, who shook his head.

"Mom already tried. The answer is no, un."

I wanted to step back but Deidara blocked me from moving when Sasori reached out and grabbed my face. I noticed he had teal fingernails. What was up with this?

"What happened to your face?" He asked blankly.

"My mom slapped me and her ring caught my face," I told him with a sneer.

I was tired of being interrogated. An amused smile covered his lips, but his eyes remained expressionless, almost sleepy. "You've got some fire in you. It's been a while since I've seen someone so willing to fight when they know they can't win."

He put his finger in the center of my forehead. It was that fear I had felt with Deidara, but it was so much worse. I backed into Deidara, trying to get away from it. But, the farther I got, the colder and more terrible the fear became.

Sasori took his finger off my forehead and his eyes hardened, "Maybe now you'll understand who you're dealing with."

I nearly jumped out of my skin when Deidara touched me, "He means as protection, Boots. It will stop the beatings. You'll be free."

"What will happen?" I asked.

Sasori looked at Deidara then back at me. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a ring. I looked at the purple ring with the strange marking on it. Sasori took my left hand and placed it on my thumb.

When he placed his finger on my forehead, I could feel the energy from the thing that had caused the terror surrounding me, but it wasn't doing anything. I was fine.

"Anyone that tries to harm you will feel what that ring protects you from," Sasori said.

I looked at Deidara, "Do you have a ring?"

"I already gave mine away, un," he said with an embarrassed smile.

"And didn't get it back," Sasori said, emotion actually showing in his voice. Too bad it was annoyance.

I turned back to Sasori, "When do you want it back?"

"Whenever you're ready to give it back," he said. "You'll be around Deidara for a while, it seems. They'll back off eventually."

I nodded as I looked at the purple ring. Hopefully, it would work, if it worked. Well, there was no need in doubting them. Sasori was much scarier than Deidara.

Sasori led us around the hardware store, telling us what we would need. We were in there for at least three hours before I heard Akemi again.

"See? Two boys, Dad! And she's still here with them!"

Over the time I had spent with Sasori, he had remained pretty much emotionless and remained out of my personal life, but I liked him. He was definitely interesting. Who knew there was so much you could know about wood?

But when Akemi and Kenta came, Sasori stepped next to me. There was annoyance in his eyes. "I've respected your privacy for too long, it seems. After this, you're explaining what is going on."

Because my mother slapping me wasn't a red flag. I felt the evil energy radiating from Sasori and Kenta and Akemi just stopped. They had a cold sweat on their face. I wondered how far the energy could go. Finally, they just walked away.

They must have been at least five feet away. That wasn't exactly impressive, but they were acting like they were too close to him. In which case, it was impressive.

"You just gave me a ring that's supposed to protect me from people that try to hurt me and you had no idea who it was protecting me from?" I asked Sasori.

Deidara covered my mouth, "Would you stop being a smart ass, un?"

I pushed him off, "It was an honest question. Besides, from what I could gather, he likes the 'fire' I have. Which involves me being a smart ass."

"I didn't realize it was your entire family," Sasori said, the blank look returning. "And evidently, they've done something to you that has caused you a great deal of pain."

I looked at him, shocked he knew.

"Every time you move or reach for something, you'll stop yourself. Are your ribs broken?"

"I don't know," I told him. "I haven't been to a doctor."

Sasori looked at Deidara.

"She said she can't go to the hospital, un," Deidara said.

Sasori looked very annoyed, "I don't want to see him, but I suppose we'll have to."

"Why can't you take a look, un?" Deidara asked. "Or Itachi's mother. She used to be a nurse, un."

"Because that wouldn't be weird," I said. "'Hey, I know I just met you last night, but I need you to check out my ribcage and make sure your new employee didn't break them. K thanks.' That'll go over real good."

"We'll tell her you fell off the roof, un," Deidara said.

"I don't look like I fell off a roof," I said. "I look like I got beat with a poker."

"You two argue like five year olds," Sasori commented. "Let's buy what we have and take it to her house. We'll start working on it Saturday. I'll see what I can do with what you've got. If I think anything is broken, you have to go to the hospital."

"Yes Mother Sasori," I grumbled.

I bought the supplies for my room remodeling and we somehow magically got them all in Deidara's car. When we got to my house, no one was home. That made getting everything up in the attic a lot easier. Sasori's footsteps were just as silent as Deidara's. It was scary.

Afterward, we went to Deidara's house and sat in his room, where Sasori made me take off my jacket and shirt and sit there in my bra. That was strange. He gently touched my bruised ribs and asked some questions.

Finally, I was given back my shirt and Deidara was allowed in the room. He had a retarded smile on his face that quickly faded under Sasori's glare.

"They aren't broken," Sasori said. "Though if he hits her again, I believe they will break. You need to be careful."

"Deidara!" Teruko called. "Itachi is here!"

Deidara sighed and I just fell onto Deidara's bed. I was exhausted.

"Do you think you'll be able to accept a life without your life on the line?" Sasori asked.

I looked at him, "I'm living across the street from someone that likes to blow stuff up. I'm sure I'll find a way to make up for it. Or I'll get a job."

"Do you go to school?" He asked.

"Unfortunately. But, I guess if I was homeschooled that would make the rumors that spread through towns worse. At least I can try to correct them."

"Rumors?"

"Akemi tells everyone that I was beaten and raped by my father. Dad hit me a few times by accident. I was a fool and tried to stop him from hitting my mother. I've never been raped though. But he's in jail now."

"And now you're actually getting beaten," Sasori stated.

"No, I've always been beaten. Mom just never left marks. Dad started beating Mom after he found out she was beating me. Then he started leaving marks and everyone started freaking out and it just went downhill."

His eyes traveled down my arms as Itachi walked in the room. I sat up and smiled at Itachi. "Long time no see, Itachi."

I almost swore his eyes flashed red. "What happened to you?"

Deidara closed the door behind him, "That's why I asked you to come, un. The scratch is the least of her worries."

"Sasori said they aren't broken," I told him. "Stop making it sound like I'm dying."

"They're trying to kill you," Sasori said. "Stand up."

I stood up and Sasori lifted up my shirt showing the bruises that showed so clearly against my pale skin.

"She has a ring now," Sasori said. "We're going to see if that works. If it doesn't, we've decided to take a more drastic step and let her join."

"Have you discussed it with the leader?" Itachi asked.

"I did," Deidara said. "He wants to meet her, but she does have potential, un."

"We both felt it," Sasori said. "She isn't aware of it, yet, but she will be."

I just stared at the three of them, "Please, carry on. Don't tell me what you're talking about in front of me that clearly involves me."

Deidara tossed me the black fingernail polish. "Shut up and paint your nails, un."

I grumbled and started painting my nails. My concentration was officially gone from their conversation as I painted my nails. Until someone bumped me and messed me up

"You bastard!" I yelled. "Do you understand how hard it is for me to paint my nails?!"

Deidara was laughing at me, "Obviously, we've been trying to talk to you for five minutes, un."

I glared then pouted at my messed up nails. "Damn. What do you want?"

"Are you hungry, un?" Deidara asked.

His smile widened under my glare.

"I hope you fall down the stairs. I really do. Yeah, if you're getting food. Where is the fingernail polish remover?"

Sasori handed me the fingernail polish remover and took my hands in his. "You have terrible nails. Do you take care of them at all?"

"Why do you know that?" I asked.

"I make puppets," Sasori replied.

Itachi smirked slightly as Sasori began removing the fingernail polish. "He has puppets that look so human, children tried to start conversations with them," Itachi explained. "He knows details and he knows them well." He sighed as he leaned forward, "I won't fire Kenta yet because you have the ring, but if it continues, I will be forced to have him removed from the company. I can't have something like that damaging the company."

"Because whatever I'm getting involved in isn't damaging anyone's reputation," I said as I looked away from what Sasori was doing to Itachi.

Itachi merely smirked, "We haven't done anything illegal."

There was some sort of spark. I wasn't sure if it was because I felt safe with these strangers or the fumes from the polish remover, but I merely smiled and turned my attention back to what Sasori was doing. "Maybe I shouldn't be part of this…organization. I can't make any promises of not doing anything illegal."

Sasori used his free hand to make me look at him, "If you get in, you will."

"Don't try to boss me around, Sasori. I'm a pain in the ass when it comes to taking orders."

He took off the ring and held my chin, his eyes never leaving mine.

I would have rather played Russian Roulette than been forced to stare at him. He started getting blurry as tears filled my eyes. Everything around us had gone dark…I think. The world was gone. The only thing that existed was Sasori, me, and fear. My heart was pounding so loudly it was the only thing I could hear.

"Please, let me go," I begged in what I had hoped would have come out as a whisper but was really just a movement of wind as I felt the tears slide down my cheeks.

I wasn't sure how long we sat there.

Seconds…minutes…hours…days even…

It felt like too long…

I closed my eyes, letting the last of my tears fall, "Fine…I'll do whatever you tell me. Just let me go."

Sasori released me and I walked out of the room, pushing past Deidara, unable to handle the reality of being broken.


	7. Burnt Orange

I didn't make it down the stairs before Deidara grabbed me and took me back to his room. I didn't bother fighting. I was so scared.

My mind had been broken. Everything I had been building for so long…in moments…by Sasori's touch had been destroyed.

When Deidara opened the door, I realized it wasn't his room he was taking me too. I wasn't sure what room it was. I guess it was just an office.

"Are you ok, un?" He asked.

I looked at him and shook my head as I looked down at my hands. "He killed it. I tried so hard to fight for so long, Deidara. And…Sasori…it's gone."

Deidara gently pulled me into a hug. "You'll recover, un. It's always hard the first time. He should have warned you, un. Or let me do it. You would have at least been a bit more prepared and maybe comfortable with hating me, un."

I could hear his smile. I just stayed against him as he held me there, running his fingers through my hair.

"You'll have to wear the ring at all times, un," Deidara said. "It'll at least bring you some comfort, un."

I nodded against him. "Thank you Deidara."

"Want to sit with them a little longer? We're going to talk about what to do for your room, un."

I shook my head, "I need to go home. I'm tired."

He let me go and put the ring on my thumb. I didn't feel any better but I figured Deidara wouldn't lie about me feeling better. I just hoped it would be soon.

I left his house, walking across the street to my own and headed to the backyard for the first time since we had moved to Ame. We had a pool. That was nice. It was still too cool here to have one. I fell onto the grass and just laid there. I didn't feel like going in.

After a while, the gate opened and Deidara, Itachi, and Sasori came into my vision.

"What are you doing?" Sasori asked.

"Go away," I told them. "I'll get in trouble if they see you here."

Deidara smiled at Sasori, "Told you she would still be mad, un."

"Why aren't you swimming?" Itachi asked.

I took my gaze from the sky and focused on the three of them. "I hate all three of you right now. Go away."

"Your weakness isn't a reason to hate us," Sasori said. "That's your problem."

I did my best not to flinch at his insult, but I knew I did. I got on my feet and looked at the three of them, "What do you want?"

"When was the last time you saw me, un?" Deidara asked.

"About an hour ago," I told him. "Why?"

He gave me a sympathetic smile, "It's been three days. We let ourselves in and your room's finished, un."

I just stared at him. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"We were hoping you died and didn't have to do it," Sasori said.

I glared at him, "I wasn't talking to you, asshole."

Deidara smiled, "Good. We can finally pick the color you want to paint your room, un."

All of us piled into Itachi's SUV. I was stuck in the back with Sasori. I think they were playing some sort of sick game with me, forcing me to be around him.

At the hardware store, I got a bunch of mixed looks. Glares, sympathy, envy, hate, and even respect. I stood in the paint with Deidara and Itachi because Sasori wanted to go look at wood.

"What was up with everyone staring at me?" I asked as I looked at the shades of purple paint.

Itachi was looking at some shades of beige. "You're basically part of the gang now," he told me.

"So I'm a gang banger?" I asked.

"Some see it like that," he said. "Others know what we're capable of and won't mess with you."

I knew what they were capable of. I was just stuck with them.

"Wonderful," I muttered.

I heard Deidara snigger as he walked up next to me and put his arm around my shoulders, "You act like that's such a terrible thing, un."

"Being considered a gang banger is a terrible thing," I replied. "What do you think? Purple? Or maybe this weird burnt orange color."

"I like the orange, un," Deidara said.

I showed the orange to Itachi, "What do you think?"

"Why are you getting a group vote?" Itachi asked.

"You helped make my room," I said with a smile. "You should help with how it looks too."

"Yeah, if you like it." A slight smirk appeared on his lips, "Are you going to ask Sasori for his opinion too?"

I groaned, "Damn."

I went to the wood where Sasori was standing, his back to me. I was suddenly grateful for the ring. There were two energies coming towards me. I walked up to Sasori, his hard gaze focused on the guy in front of us.

He was tall and large. His muscular build made him look like he had worked out too much and could easily snap Sasori in half, but Sasori wasn't backing down. But, then again, for all I knew, Sasori could be pure iron under that hoody he wore all the time.

I stood next to Sasori, completely unmoved by the energy around me. I looked at Sasori and started to take the ring off, but he stopped me, still not saying a word.

"Who's your friend, Sasori? Hard to believe you could get someone so cute to date you."

My eyes narrowed.

Sasori was a compete jerk to me, but he had taught me something. He did not deserve to be talked down to like that.

I noticed Sasori glance at me as the guy took a step back while his green eyes stayed on me. "You taught her some tricks. Adding a new member, huh? We'll keep that in mind. See you around Sasori."

He winked at me and walked off.

"What do you want?" Sasori asked as he turned his attention to the wood.

I suddenly felt low. Like I was way beneath him and shouldn't be there. I just wanted to lay in the grass and stare at the sky again.

"Nothing," I replied quietly as I hid the paint sample in my pocket. "Sorry."

When I got back to Itachi and Deidara, they had annoyed looks on their faces. I just held the burnt orange color in my hand and stared at it.

Defeat.

I had been defeated again. Just by standing next to him.

"What did Sasori say about that color, un?" Deidara asked.

"I didn't ask," I said quietly. "I couldn't."

"She's still scared of him," Itachi said. "Well, orange it is. Let's get it and go. I'll get Sasori."

After I got the paint, we piled into Itachi's SUV, Sasori sitting in the front and Deidara sitting in the back with me. I stared out the window as the world went by.

Something hit me. I looked at Deidara, "What?"

"What did you think about Taru, un?" He asked, frustrated I had heard him the first however many times he had asked me.

"Who's that?" I asked.

"The guy you met when you went to talk to Sasori, un."

"I don't like him," I said as I looked out the window.

"That didn't tell us anything, un," Deidara said.

"What do you want me to say? The guy was huge. There wasn't anything attractive about him, his muscles were too big. He could probably snap me in half with one arm. But his…energy was different. And I guess he isn't part of whatever this is. And he thinks I'm a gang banger."

"Sasori said something happened," Itachi told me. "What happened?"

"You mean when he backed down?" I asked. "I don't know what happened. He said you taught me some tricks, but I don't know any tricks. He pissed me off, but I got over it."

"Obviously," Sasori muttered.

I kept my attention out the window, ignoring his comment.

Deidara sniggered, "Glad someone has faith in you, Sasori. None of us do."

I guessed Sasori told them the whole story. I had nothing more to say on the matter. When Itachi parked the car, there was a different car in my driveway.

Deidara held me back, "Don't worry. I've got you, un."

"Who's car?" I asked.

"Taru," Sasori hissed.

I pushed Deidara away and went to my house.

"Don't be stupid," Sasori told me.

I glared at him, "Don't go there, Sasori. He's going after Akemi. She'll fall for it and hell will break loose. There will be a gang fight in this neighborhood."

"We're not a gang," Itachi said.

"Whatever!" I yelled as I opened the door.

I immediately closed it.

"Nevermind," I told them. "Let's just hang out somewhere else."

Itachi sighed, "That's just great."

He shoved by me and walked in. Sasori shortly followed while Deidara stayed out with me.

"They certainly have no shame," I muttered.

"Sex is the fastest way of unleashing that power you felt from Sasori, un," Deidara replied.

I raised an eyebrow as I looked up at him. He just winked at me.

I just rolled my eyes.

"Of course, that also makes it weaker," he continued. "If you open it prematurely it lessens its effect on other people and you can't make it any stronger, un."

"Did you learn that the hard way?" I asked with a smile.

He looked at me, "Do you want to learn it the hard way, un?"

"Stop suggesting it! I'm not interested in you that way."

"But you are interested in me, un," he said with a smirk.

"I have officially claimed you as my best friend," I said with a grin. "Consider that your warning."

"We installed a rope ladder to your window so you can get out whenever you want, un."

"What about getting in?" I asked as I stared up at the window.

"Well, when Taru leaves, they should be sending it down, un."

I sighed as we waited outside.

Oddly enough, Akemi came out first with Taru's shirt on and no pants.

"What are your friends doing?!" She yelled at me.

I shrugged, "I didn't go in there. Why don't you tell me what you were doing on THE COUCH I SLEEP ON?!"

"You've been in the yard for the past three days," she shot back. "You should stay out there. I've known Taru for a few days now. He said he can help me get past your friends."

I scoffed, "When one of them actually beat me into submission? Right. You're really going to get past them."

She smirked, "So, they broke you. That's impressive. How hard did they bang you?"

Deidara covered my mouth and I glared at him, "You always ruin a good comeback."

Taru walked out of the house and took Akemi with him. I watched as he flew out of the driveway and down the street.

Itachi walked out with Sasori behind him. "You might want to clean the couch."

I shuddered, "Gross."

The four of us walked inside ignoring the mess that was the living room. I went up the stairs and pulled the string that dropped the ladder. When I climbed up, my jaw dropped. They really had finished the room.

Even had that guy put in a floor for me. I had wonderful soft, grey carpet. Why they picked carpet, I didn't care. But it was awesome to walk on.

"Wow, it's great. Thanks," I said quietly.

"Get out so we can paint, un," Deidara said with a smile. "Go clean downstairs so you don't get in trouble. When I hear your mother freak out tonight, I want her going off at Akemi not you."

I sighed as I went down the stairs and started cleaning.

Absolutely disgusting. I shouldn't be cleaning body fluids off a couch.

I threw Akemi's clothes into the hamper and sighed as I sat in the kitchen. How was it we lived here for a week and still didn't have food?

"Something bothering you?"

I felt my blood go cold with fear as my body tensed up with how close Sasori was. He sat down across from me and just looked at me. I couldn't move.

"The last person I did that to killed themselves," he told me. "He wasn't as stubborn as you, but his mind was just as strong. He didn't last three days. He didn't last thirty minutes. He walked out of the room and killed himself. You don't have the same look he had. You fought me. He had given up before it started."

Sasori's sleepy gaze pierced me, "Let it go. That's the only way you can move on."

I finally managed to stand up and walk away from him to get a glass from the cabinets, only to find none of them were in there. I closed my eyes for a moment as I sighed and turned my attention to the dishwasher. This had to be some kind of joke.

When I opened it, it was completely full. And we didn't have anything to wash them with.

"Do you want me to take you to the store?" Sasori offered gently. "Itachi and Deidara will be up there for a while."

"If you're the perfectionist, why aren't you up there?" I asked getting more unraveled by him being around.

"I paint small things. Not rooms. Let's go."

"I didn't-"

"We're going," he said firmly.

My mouth snapped shut and I followed him out, hating myself for being so obedient. No wonder that guy had killed himself. I was debating it as I climbed into Sasori's car. Submitting to someone's will out of fear was worse than being beaten. So much worse.

I clenched my fists as we rode in silence, the only sound being the radio. It was some rock station that played older rock music.

"You're not going to talk to me at all?" Sasori asked.

"I have nothing to say," I told him.

"Just because I showed you what we were capable of?" He asked.

"Because you decided to turn it into some sort of sick game. All three of you did. But Deidara and Itachi don't try to torture me so they're tolerable."

"I'm not torturing you yet," Sasori said. "If that's what you want, it can be arranged."

I glared at him, "I don't enjoy your presence."

There was a small amused smirk, "You don't hate me."

"I don't know you well enough to decide that yet," I told him as I looked out the window. "You never show any emotion. If you actually showed any, maybe I could decide if I liked you or hated you."

"Emotion would help you decide if you liked or hated me," Sasori contemplated. "You are the strangest person I have ever met."

"You don't have a personality. I think your puppets are getting to you."

He looked at me, "What's that supposed to mean?"

"No matter how real they look, they're not alive. They have no soul. No personality." I finally allowed my eyes to meet his and forced down my inevitable fear of him, "Unless you give them one. You aren't a puppet, Sasori. You're just the puppeteer."

He didn't speak to me after that. When we got to the store, I grabbed a cart and just started throwing food into it.

"Are you even looking at what you're grabbing?" Sasori asked as he picked up a bag of dried artichokes.

"No," I told him as I took it from him and put it on the shelf and kept going, just grabbing more random stuff. "Deidara and Itachi will be busy for a while and I need food. I just grab stuff and pay for it. I'll go back through it and put stuff back when I figure out what I feel like eating."

"So you're just going to waste time?" He sighed annoyed with me. "I don't know how Deidara puts up with you."

"You volunteered for this," I told him. "Feel free to put in whatever you want. We'll sort it out later."

He stared blankly at me, "Why would you buy me anything?"

"To pay back for working on my room," I told him. "Of course after what you did to me, we should be even."

"I helped you," Sasori told me.

"You've killed me," I told him. The seriousness in my voice stopped him from walking on to whatever had caught his interest as he looked back at me. "Don't even act like you didn't know that. You knew what you were doing when you did it. You wanted to break me. Congratulations. You succeeded."

"I didn't want you to break," he said. "I wanted to see how much you could take. You broke on your own. You were the weak one."

I wanted to destroy him.

I didn't say anything as I continued throwing things in the cart. I abandoned the cart with Sasori and went to the next aisle. Anal ass just loved to stare at stuff.

When I started down the aisle, I bumped into someone and muttered an apology then continued on, only to have them grab me.

"So, you had the same idea of vacationing in Ame, Boots?" He asked.

I looked into the pale hazel eyes of Kat. His black hair had grown out since the last time I had seen him. He was Akemi's ex-boyfriend. She loathed him after he told her the truth…he dated her just to get to know me.


	8. Car Ride

"Hi Kat," I said quietly. "W-We moved here."

He pouted slightly, trying to look cute as I took a step away and go around him. Even though it worked, he followed me, "Why'd you move? Trying to get away from that monster you call a dad?"

"N-No," I replied.

I wanted to stab myself in the heart. What the hell was wrong with me? Here I was stuttering like a shy school girl even though it was fear that gripped my heart.

"Kenta got a job here," I explained as I examined a can on the shelf.

"How sad," he said. "I'm going to miss you."

"Ok," I replied.

I saw him give that pout again, "Won't you miss me?"

"I-I haven't thought about it," I said as I rushed away from him and turned to find Sasori.

He was still staring at something. I didn't care how pathetic I looked as I grabbed his arm.

He didn't look down at me as he put something back on the shelf, "What happened?"

Kat laughed as he walked up to us, "You've never run before, Boots. What happened? Did moving here change you?"

"You know him?" Sasori asked as he picked up something else.

I nodded as I carefully let go of his arm, almost afraid he would suddenly disappear if I did. It was strange how he suddenly became the safest thing I knew. If I had to choose between him and Deidara, I would have to choose him.

It made sense. Why he broke me. Why he pushed me until I couldn't take it anymore. To make me realize they were safe.

"You've been cheating on me?" Kat asked, feigning shock. "How could you?!"

Sasori didn't even cast a glance at me as his attention turned to Kat. His sleepy gaze never changed as he just looked at the teen in front of us. After a moment, Sasori actually chuckled. "I'd cheat on you too," Sasori said and went back to looking at the items on the shelf.

Sasori glanced down at me, "You're safe. Go look for whatever you wanted."

I nodded slowly and walked by Kat who was shaking with fury.

As I browsed the cereal aisle looking for something that sounded remotely delicious or looked good, someone grabbed my wrist tightly and spun me to face them. I stared at Kat with some fear in my eyes.

I had no idea where Sasori was.

Kat was not one of Akemi's better choices as a boyfriend. One reason, he wanted to get to know me. Another, Akemi never remembered what she had done with him when she came back from her dates.

And when I went to a friend's house, Akemi came with Kat…I couldn't remember what happened that night, but I was covered in bruises. Mom and Kenta had left town that week, so they couldn't have done it.

I just stared at Kat as he smirked at me, "Hiya Boots. Let's see you walk away now. How about coming with me to Uzushio?"

"I-I can't," I told him.

His grip on my wrist tightened, "No, you are. You don't have a choice. You'll be loved there." He gently touched my face and I flinched back, trying to pull away from him. "I'll love you. Always."

Someone placed their hand on my shoulder. I nearly jumped out of my skin at the unfamiliar touch. I faced the stranger with my fear growing. They were going to take me to Uzushio.

"At least let me tell Sasori goodbye," I pleaded.

"No," Kat said. "You betrayed me."

I saw Sasori pass by on the opposite end of the aisle, his eyes never once looking. Something told me he saw. And he was angry.

"Clearly you're not from here," I heard Sasori say.

He was behind us. The stranger forced me to face Sasori. There was something sharp against my back. A knife?

"And you don't know what we're capable of," Kat said. "She's coming with us. Unless you just want her to die here."

Sasori's eyes narrowed slightly as the knife pushed harder against my back. I just whimpered slightly as I closed my eyes.

There was a pressure against me. It was that energy. That aura Sasori had. But the fear that came with it was not fear of Sasori. It was fear of Kat. I could remember what happened that night.

I heard the knife fall to the ground as Kat let me go and backed away.

I walked to Sasori and just rested my head on his chest. He gently placed an arm around me, holding me carefully against him. I could feel myself shaking against him.

"Let's go," he said quietly. "We'll talk in the car."

His arm didn't leave me as he led me out and I got in the car. Sasori didn't push me to talk as he drove. I had no idea where we were going.

"Where are we going?" I asked quietly.

"Just calm down," he said as he continued driving.

I looked out the window. "It happened last year, before the move. Mom and Kenta were out of town. Akemi took me to this outing or something. A friend of mine talked me into going. Akemi was still dating Kat, who you met at the store. But, Kat wasn't interested in Akemi. He was interested in me. But when Akemi came home from her dates, she never remembered what happened. It was weird, so I didn't get involved."

"Drugs or alcohol. Maybe both." Sasori told me.

"At that party, he must have spiked my drink. They tied me down. Beat me. Cut me. Degraded me. Broke me."

"You'll be stronger now," Sasori said as his focus on the road seemed to intensify. "Hold on."

With a sharp turn to the left, we were going down a one way street. Into oncoming traffic. I just sighed as I watched and listened to the cars passing us honk their horns then he took a sharp right and we were back in normal traffic.

He pulled out his phone and pushed a number then held it up to his ear. "Why else would I call?" Sasori asked, clearly annoyed with whoever answered. "Of course we have a problem." His normal sleepy face came back, "Yes I have her. We're being followed." He paused for a moment. "Ok, I will."

He hung up and put the phone in the cup holder next to him. I didn't ask. I kept my attention out the window as Sasori drove.

"Did he hurt you in the store?" Sasori asked.

"No, not really," I replied quietly.

"Are you ok?" He asked. "Do you want to stop somewhere and get something to drink? We're going to be riding for a while."

I looked at him, "W-Why?"

"You're coming to my house. Congratulations. You're the first person who isn't a member to ever make it there. Lucky for you, you just happen to be allergic to the paint and it takes a week to get rid of the fumes."


	9. Sanctuary

Sasori wasn't joking about the long ride. For whatever reason, he stopped by a gas station and bought me some hot tea to help calm me down.

The city had turned into fields. The fields eventually turned to a thick forest. Then we were near a foot of a mountain where a nice log cabin was.

Sasori parked his car and sighed, "Welcome to my house."

He didn't sound excited about it.

This immeasurable guilt took me as I climbed out of the car. "Why didn't you just let him take me?" I asked. "Spare you the pain."

For a moment, there was some guilt in Sasori's eyes as he looked at me. But it was gone as fast as it came. He just walked to the house, his feet not even crunching on the gravel.

How in the world did he do that?

I stayed where I was for a moment, just looking at everything. Though it was the middle of the summer, the air here was still cool because of the dense forest.

"Aren't you coming in?" Sasori asked.

I walked to the large door and stepped in. I didn't really see Sasori as a hunter…but the cabin was very…hunter. There was a chandelier made out of deer antlers that greeted us. A bear skin rug with the head and claws still attached. The fireplace was HUGE and lined with stone. Fish and taxidermy animals lined the walls along with paintings of nature.

Everything was wooden. Even the couch. On the couch, forest green cushions lined the couch with decorative brown pillows on it. It faced a LARGE flat screen TV and I noticed surround sound speakers around the room decorated with pine cones.

It was interesting.

"My father likes hunting in his spare time," Sasori explained. "I never understood it, but it's his thing. You won't meet my parents, though. They leave for weeks at a time for business."

I just nodded as I looked at everything. It was such a nice place. Whatever they were doing, they were doing it right.

I heard Sasori's keys hit a table then he sat on the couch, "Sit wherever you feel comfortable. Make yourself at home. You'll be here for the next week anyway."

The guilt still in me, I wandered into an incredible kitchen suitable for any hunter. Once again, everything was wood or stainless steel. The brown granite counter tops were nothing to be ashamed of either.

I pulled a stool out at the counter, noticing the intricate carvings of deer in the legs and a deer face in the seat and sat down at the counter. I wasn't sure why I felt so bad about just being in Sasori's house.

But he could have let Kat take me. He should have. I had become too much trouble for the guys. These…guys…I didn't know.

As I looked out the large window, I noticed a lake wasn't too far. It had been a long time since I had had any sort of mass of water nearby besides the pool. I loved lakes. I smiled a bit as I got up and walked out of Sasori's house, following a well traveled path to the lake where a deck waited. There was even a boat there.

For the first time, I felt like I didn't need to protect myself anymore. There was no need to have an attitude to anyone. No need to be afraid.

I put my tea down and rolled up my pants then sat down on the deck, letting my feet sink into the cool water. I swished them around for a little while, just enjoying myself.

It felt like it was the first time I had ever smiled as I looked at the beautiful scene around me. How could Sasori not enjoy this? Just sit inside and watch TV or build puppets whatever it was he did. There were beautiful mountains that touched the sky. The snow faded into their rocky sides and trees.

I envied him.

Until my tea exploded.

The gun shot echoed through the silent area. My eyes landed on a man standing on an adjacent shore. He must have been some sort of crazy with a gun that favored a rifle.

"Stand up!" He yelled. "Or I'll shoot you next!"

I weighed my options. I didn't need Sasori getting in trouble, so I stood up.

There was another cock behind me. I slowly looked behind me to see another man with a gun right behind me.

What in the world. These people had me surrounded. What had I done other than sit on a deck?

"You know there's snakes in the lake right?" The man behind me asked.

"That's lovely," I told him. "Now what do you want? Sasori is not going to be happy if he sees you with a gun at my head. And frankly, I'm not happy with a gun at my head and back either."

I looked at the lake. How deep was it? Could I escape from these psychos?

"You know that loon?" The guy in front of me asked.

I narrowed my eyes dangerously at him.

He started laughing, "She knows Harper's son!"

The man on the opposite shore started laughing as well. I managed to knock the gun out of his hand and jumped into the lake. Luckily, it was deep enough for me to shed my bright clothes and blend in with the murky waters.

Deidara was going to get a kick out of this.

So, being on the swim team saved my life. I was able to swim to the middle of the lake out of range of the rifle. But Sasori wasn't happy.

Guess I had been down too long because he looked ready to kill the two of them. When I got to the nearest shore, I climbed out and started my long, awkward walk to them.

I was freezing and practically naked. When I finally got to them, I just stood there.

"Sasori, I'm cold. And I lost my clothes. Can we please kill them later and go inside? Or get me a towel, or something."

The rage on his face disappeared almost instantly when he saw me, though he didn't seem exactly thrilled to see my body. The two people that tried to kill me were pretty excited, though.

Sasori gave them a cold glare, "Come after her again and I'll end you myself." His eyes were gentle and caring when he looked at me. He did have a heart after all. "C'mon Boots. Let's get you inside and…not naked."

"I'm not naked yet," I muttered as I followed him to the house.

"You seem better," he said. "I'll remember to shoot at you when you go into a state of depression."

"It wasn't like that," I told him. "I just…didn't feel vulnerable. Like nothing would hurt me down there. Uzushio had a hidden lake that I found when I was younger. And…it was a sanctuary. Nothing could hurt me there. Lakes…are just an inner peace now. You're lucky to have one."

"I almost drown in there," Sasori told me. "Not so lucky now, am I?"

"You can have my house and I'll live here. Where I'll never have to live in fear again. In a world where nothing can hurt me."

He pinched me then laughed when I jumped and hit him. "That hurt asshole."

"I thought nothing could hurt you," he told me.

"Go get me clothes," I told him. "I'm cold and tired of standing practically naked in your house."

He chuckled, "Maybe that's how I like it."

I almost blushed as I glared at him, "Then start stripping. It's got to be an even playing field."

He sighed as he started walking towards his room, "Deidara said you played nasty. I didn't realize how nasty."

I pouted, "I don't get to see you shirtless?"

He had a distant look on his face, almost melancholy, "You don't want to."


	10. Human Puppets

Sasori handed me a hoody, sweatpants and a towel. "My guest bathroom is just down the hall. We'll wash your bra and underwear when you get out."

I smiled slightly. "Thanks Sasori."

I walked down the hall and took a nice hot shower. I wasn't surprised that there was man soap and shampoo in the shower. I didn't really care either. It smelled nice. A little strong, but nice. When I dried off, it felt strange not wearing underwear, but I didn't need some weird urinary tract infection killing me.

Sasori's clothes smelled nice. Like wood and whatever he used to wash with. It was different than whatever I used. Maybe it was his detergent. I collected my towel, bra and underwear and walked out of the bathroom, making sure everything was wear it should be and the floor was dry. After turning the light out, I walked out and went to the living room where Sasori was not…there.

I guess I had to find the washing machine myself.

I wandered around the house until I found the washing machine. I just stared at it. This thing was way more advanced than anything I had ever messed with.

A chuckle caught my attention. "Here," Sasori said as he took the bundle from me and tossed it in.

After adding some liquid detergent, he pushed a button and looked at me, "There."

I smiled at him, "Thanks, Sasori."

"Do you want a brush or something?" He asked as he touched my knotted brown hair. "This looks like it's going to be painful to brush if it dries."

I tied it back and smiled, "Problem solved."

He moved some of my bangs that fell in my face out of the way. "Don't go to the lake without me," he said. "They'll do more than shoot at you next time."

"You're no fun Sasori. Keeping me trapped in this place for the next week. I'll lose my mind."

"I'm not keeping you trapped," he said. "It's not my fault you can't drive."

I stared at him as a faint smirk formed on his lips.

"You wouldn't trust me with your car," I said skeptically.

"Guess we'll never know," he teased. "C'mon, as interesting as the washing machine is, there's something else I want to show you."

I followed him to a new room. It's theme was unlike the rest of the house. I…didn't want to go in it. It was dark and I could see stuff hanging on the walls. It looked like people.

"This is my room. This is where I build my puppets," Sasori told me, a sense of pride in his voice.

To not hurt his feelings, I followed him in. Once I walked in, the weird feeling I had gotten at the doorway was gone. That was weird. I was still wearing his ring…so why could I still feel the fear?

I looked at a puppet on the wall and gasped silently. "Sasori, they're beautiful."

"Some…are alive," he told me quietly.

I jumped back, slamming into him.

One of my greater fears that wasn't induced by beatings was thing being alive that shouldn't be.

"Not those," he said gently.

He turned me to a case that had been locked down. The puppets were…very real. Like small humans.

"Oh…God, Sasori," I whispered as I moved closer to him. "What did you do?"

"What I had to," he told me. "We were in danger and they needed to be stopped."

"'We.' The organization? Or Itachi and Deidara?"

"Some of both," he responded. "But we were in danger because of the organization. Some are in there because they attacked my parents. And that is not taken lightly. The others just don't have trophies like I do."

I shuddered. "How are you keeping them alive?" I asked.

"It's a complex process of simply removing a part of their soul and putting it within a puppet. The puppet is usually just a blank figure, like this," he said as he picked up a very blank wooden doll. "When the soul is added is when the features come. That's why they look more real than these. And that's why they're locked away."

I shivered, "I couldn't sleep in here. Things that are alive that shouldn't be…that doesn't work."

"Would you rather us be dead?" He asked. "Unable to protect you?"

"I don't think I'd be in half as much trouble," I told him with a smile. "But I've had fun. So, it's been worth it so far. And hopefully, you'll be able to find my body when I return home and they kill me."

There was some confusion in his eyes, "We told you."

I blinked, "Told me what?"

"You're not going home."


	11. Sickness

The news thrilled me and terrified me at the same time.

"W-What?" I asked, stuttering slightly as I watched Sasori, searching for any sign of a lie in his eyes.

Would I even know if he was lying?

He rubbed the back of his neck as he sat on his bed, "I was hoping you had at least heard us while you were staring at the sky for the days you were staring at the sky. Guess not."

I sat down in the chair and just stared at him. I didn't really need an explanation.

"Why'd you fix my room if you were going to kidnap me?" I asked.

"Because we're still in the process of actually getting the Leader to agree to this," he said. "We might not be able to kidnap you permanently."

"Where would I stay?" I asked. "I can't live with you. You have scary living things that shouldn't be alive."

"Itachi has his own apartment," Sasori said. "You would stay with him when my parents return. What grade are you in?"

"I'm a junior," I told him. "Why?"

"A year under Deidara," he muttered. "Itachi and I have already graduated. And Deidara may act like an idiot, but he's incredible at school."

So I wouldn't be alone…at least not this year.

"The other members. Where are they?"

"Living their lives in other cities," Sasori said. "We just happened to be here."

I nodded. "What's wrong with your door?"

"Keeps my parents away," he said.

"Keeps me away too," I muttered.

"Good."

"You've got freaky human puppets in here. That's all you had to say and I'm gone."

"What…if I'm a human puppet," Sasori asked quietly.

I looked at him, studying him. "Prove it," I dared.

He pushed up his sleeve, "Touch me."

It looked like skin. "You're not some weird Hannibal are you?" I asked. "Just wearing someone else-"

I stopped suddenly feeling sick. Another phobia: skinning things.

Strong arms wrapped around me, taking me out of the dark room and then suddenly we were outside. I wasn't sure how we got there so fast, and I didn't care.

"Are you ok?" He asked.

I nodded then shook my head and buried my face in his chest.

"Talk to me," I begged. "Tell me a story. Insult me. Scare me. I don't care. Please get the images out of my head."

He chuckled slightly, "Scaring you won't help." He held me tight as he played with my messy knotted hair, "What images?"

"I will puke if I talk about it," I told him. "Don't go there."

"C'mon," he said. "We'll watch a movie and get you something to drink."

"Nothing scary," I said quickly.

"Why nothing scary?"

"Right now, I'll puke."

"Just right now?" He asked. "You're strange."

"And you lied to me about being a puppet," I said as I poked his face. "I doubt puppets have half the emotions you do, even though you hide them."

"Hide?" Sasori asked. "As I remember, you cracked me the first time we met. That's a record."

"Joy," I said sarcastically.

He just stared at me, "You really have no idea, do you?"

I stared back, "About what?"

"Why you're here."

"Because I'm allergic to paint fumes," I told him.

He sighed, "You are the most gullible person ever."

I frowned as I followed him to the washing machine, "When are Deidara and Itachi coming?"

He paused as he pulled my clothes from the washing machine, "Tomorrow. Why?"

"Just wondering when I would be getting clean clothes. I really didn't want to wash the same underwear all week. Cause…that would be weird."

"So, I'll just know all of your underwear instead," Sasori said as he started the dryer.

She glared at him, "If you would tell me how to work it-"

"No," he said with a smirk as he leaned against the washing machine. "I like bothering this side of you."

He gently grabbed my chin and held my face there. "You are such a mystery," he said quietly. "I've enjoyed finally getting to know you. Being able to mask yourself from the world is a talent. One we've both mastered." His hand left my chin and rested on my cheek, "I can see through those masks. I think you can too, but you just didn't believe what you saw when you saw me. Deidara and Itachi reacted virtually the same way."

I enjoyed his rough touch. Touch of a carpenter. A well practiced one. It was weird how he knew just where to touch me and how to hold my face to get a reaction. I had leaned into his touch.

I rested my forehead on his chest, "Don't call me the mystery when you're the mystery, Sasori. You create your own reactions because you've studied the human anatomy so much you know how to do it."

He chuckled gently, "No…you did that yourself. I merely touched you."

I blushed but didn't look at him, not wanting to admit he was right. Thinking of a quick rebound, I came up with the lamest thing to tell him. "You should be a doctor."


	12. Snuggler

I carefully sat down, careful not to spill the hot tea in my hands. Sasori sat on the other side of me after picking a movie and putting it in. He promised it wasn't scary. Once I was sure I wouldn't puke, I decided it was safe to tell him about my fear.

"I've got a problem about skinning things," I confided quietly as the movie began. It was one of the Bourne movies. "Thinking about it…"

I don't know how he got his arm around me, but his hand was suddenly over my mouth, "Then don't think about it," he said as he stopped me from talking about it. "Just watch the movie."

I loved action movies. They were my absolute favorite. And I had never seen a Bourne movie, so it was really exciting.

When the movie was over, I pouted. "Man, why'd it have to end?"

Sasori chuckled as he moved his arm from behind me, "Do you want to watch the others?"

I grinned widely at him, "There are more?! How many more?"

All I knew was there were a lot of Bourne movies. I never got a chance to count how many or watch them. Movies were practically banned at my house if they were over PG.

"There are three more," he said as he stood up. "But one is basically unrelated."

"Can we watch it anyway?" I asked.

He smiled as he went to put in the next movie then came back and sat down by me. He paused it when his phone rang.

"What?" he answered, clearly aggravated with whoever it was.

I could hear Deidara and I grinned. "Tell Deidara I say hi!"

Sasori rolled his eyes, "Go change while I talk to him."

I stuck my tongue out at him and stood up. Sasori looked really annoyed for a moment, "Deidara, you know damn well she is not walking around naked!"

"Anymore," I yelled.

Sasori glared at me, "Go."

I kissed his cheek and went to the dryer to get my bra and underwear. After I got those back on I fell back onto the couch and smiled at Sasori. He pushed the play button and I watched the movie just as intensely as I watched the first.

I felt something tugging at my hair, but it didn't really catch my attention until the end of the movie. I swatted at it and caught Sasori's hand.

"What are you doing?" I asked him.

"Nothing," he said.

I pouted as he turned off the TV, "Why'd you turn it off?"

"It's almost 1:30," he said. "Aren't you tired?"

"No. I want to see how it ends. I'll watch it without you."

He sighed as he turned the TV back on and put the movie on. He sat by me and pushed the button to start the movie. "You aren't going to bed?" I asked.

"No," he said. "You don't know how to turn all this stuff off."

"Well, if you'd show me we wouldn't have this problem."

He chuckled.

About fifteen minutes in, my eyes started to grow heavy. I scooted back so I could lay down on the couch, forgetting all about Sasori being there. By the time I had laid back, I realized I was leaning on him and I really didn't care.

"Tired?" He asked quietly with a hint of amusement in his voice.

I nodded, not caring to admit he was right. "You can leave me here. Goodnight Sasori."

"Sorry Princess," he said as he got up, taking me with him.

I pushed off him and landed hard on the floor as I stared up at him, officially awake again.

"Don't carry me," I told him. "That's on the forbidden unless necessary list."

He helped me up, "I'll remember that."

He pointed to the guest room, which was also hunter themed. With taxidermy animals in it. As I stood there, I was less sure if I could stay there. Or if I could sleep at all.

I went down the hall and knocked on Sasori's door. I heard him sigh and open the door, "What?"

The sudden fear coming from his room and the human puppets made me second guess my decision. "Nothing," I said quietly. "Never mind."

He gently grabbed me, "What's wrong, Boots? Are you ok?"

I nodded, "It's nothing, Sasori. Don't worry about me."

He didn't look convinced as I walked to the kitchen and made another cup of tea.

"Boots, what's bothering you?" He asked as he stood in front of me.

"Nothing," I told him. "I'll get over it. Just…leave me alone."

I walked back to the guest room and sat on the bed, sipping my tea in the darkness as I adjusted to the fact there were dead animals on my wall. The door opened and Sasori turned on the light.

"Better be glad I wasn't asleep," I told him.

"Are you alright?" He asked. "I don't need to throw you into the lake do I?"

I smiled slightly, "No. I'm fine. Just the…animals kind of freaked me out. I've never had to sleep in the same room."

He smiled, "You were going to sleep with me?"

I knew I was blushing as I looked at my tea, "It sounds weird when you say it like that. Then I remembered your human puppets and backed out."

"Well, the animals are dead. No souls in them. So, you're safe."

I stared at him with wide eyes. I hadn't even considered that.

"I won't be able to sleep at all," I muttered. "It's going to be a nightmare here."

He sighed, "You'll get used to it. It freaked Deidara out too."

"I'm sleeping with him when he gets here."

"Do you want me to sleep with you?"

I knew I looked pitiful as I looked at him, "Will you?"

He sighed, "Yeah."

I mentally damned myself for asking as I went to the living room and grabbed a pillow from the couch then went back to the room.

Sasori was awkwardly standing there but there was a look of amusement when he saw the pillow, "What's that for? A pillow fight for our sleepover?"

I glared at him, "I am a snuggler and it happens to be very intense. I value my dignity."

I climbed in on the right side of the bed and held the pillow close to me, though it was an uncomfortable position.

"I don't care and I won't tell," Sasori told me.

"I care and I'll know," I told him. "That's two too many to know. It's bad enough I told you. And you'll understand in the morning. Chances are I'm going to lose the pillow or it's going to be on you and I'll have you as well. So, you're going to experience it at some point."

"So you're fine with cuddling with Deidara but not me?" Sasori asked.

"There's a certain…wall that Deidara and I no longer have that I still have with you. Deidara is officially my best friend. He'll never be anything more."

"But Itachi and I are different because…"

"You're not as childish as me and Deidara. We're on the same maturity level. And we're going to blow up stuff together, how awesome is that?"

Sasori sighed, "Great, there are two of them."


	13. Pancakes

The covers were ripped off of me and I curled up, my leg traveling up something solid. Then the curtains were opened and I buried my face into something else that smelled amazing.

Memories of why this wasn't a couch began to fill my foggy morning mind and the memory that I did in fact have a death grip on Sasori and the fact that I was almost completely on top of him (though his arm being around me didn't help the situation) reminded me I was in his house. I half expected a scream at any moment. Instead, I heard a laugh. Deidara's laugh.

"Didn't take you two long to settle your differences, un," he joked.

"Go die," I grumbled as I nestled my face back into Sasori's chest trying to get rid of the light. "Did you bring my clothes?"

"Yeah, un," he said. "It was a lot easier than we thought. After your family heard 'week vacation' they were gone, un."

I sighed as I got off Sasori and fell off the bed. I remembered the bed being a lot bigger when I fell asleep last night.

Deidara laughed at me while Sasori peeked over the edge of the bed and looked at me. "Are you ok?"

"'ts too early," I grumbled. "The first full day I'm sane again and Deidara has to come and screw me over by waking me up."

"You're in my bed," Deidara said. "Why were you two sleeping together anyway, un?"

"She can't sleep with the taxidermy animals," Sasori told him while I ran my fingers through my hair and yawned. I knew I looked a hot mess.

"Where did your clothes go, un?" Deidara asked with a smirk.

"The psycho neighbors shot at me and I jumped into a lake and had to take my clothes off because they were bright and I didn't know how deep the lake was and I lost them," I told him as I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes.

I yawned as I got up and looked at Deidara, "I guess we're sharing a room then. I'm a monster, buddy. Beware of cuddling. It will happen."

He raised an eyebrow, "Is that what this was about, un?"

"At least she's warning us," Sasori said. "Can you imagine waking up to her just being all over you in the middle of the night and not knowing that?"

Deidara chuckled, "Best turn on ever until you find out she's still asleep."

I shook my head as I stretched and walked out of the room and went to the kitchen where I found Itachi and little Sasuke. I smiled at the young boy, "Good morning, Sasuke. Morning Itachi."

Sasuke jumped out of his chair and hugged me tight, even though he barely came up to my waist. He had tears in his eyes when he looked up at me. I kneeled down to his level and brushed the tears away with my thumbs, "What's wrong, Sasuke?"

"Itachi said you might have been hurt."

I ruffled the boy's hair and smiled, "Do I look hurt to you?"

He shook his head with a sniffle, slowly smiling again. He hugged me tight, wrapping his arms around my neck. I easily hoisted him off the ground, "Have you had breakfast yet?"

"No," he said.

"Well, that just won't do," I said. "What sounds good?"

"Pancakes!" Sasuke cheered.

"You want to help me make them?" I asked.

He nodded excitedly and I grabbed a seat from the table and put it next to me and started making the pancake batter with Sasuke.

"What do you like in your Pancakes, Sasuke?" I asked. He looked very confused by the question. "I put chocolate chips in mine. Do you want chocolate chips in yours?"

"Yeah!" Sasuke agreed.

I sprinkled some chocolate chips in the batter and we watched the batter cook. When the time was right, I flipped it and waited for it to cook through. "How many do you want, Sasuke?"

"Just two."

"Ok. How about you go get me a plate?"

He jumped off the chair and ran off to get a plate for the pancakes. I put the pancake on there and made him another one the same way then handed him the plate and pulled some chocolate syrup from the fridge and covered the pancakes with enough to make it amazing then put the syrup away.

"There. Breakfast. What do you want to drink?"

"Milk please!"

I poured him a glass of milk and helped him to the table. I hadn't even noticed Sasori and Deidara had walked into the kitchen.

"What do you put in your pancakes? Sasori's boring and probably likes his plain. So, Deidara, what kind do you like?"

"Blueberry, un."

"Itachi?"

"Banana."

Someone had to make it complicated.

"Sasori?"

Might as well check.

"Chocolate chip."

I glanced at him to see if he was joking. He looked completely serious. Well, whatever.

"Deidara, how many do you want?"

"Four, un."

I started on Deidara's pancakes. When I finished, I put the plate to the side and started on Itachi's.

"How many, Itachi?"

"Four is fine."

"You're not going to bring me mine, un?"

"No, bum," I told Deidara. "You've got legs. Come get them."

I put Itachi's plate to the side.

"Sasori?"

"Four," he said.

I froze. He was right behind me, reaching into the refrigerator. I could feel him smirking. Jerk.

When I finished with his pancakes, there was no batter left, so I grabbed some cereal from the cabinet and felt someone tug on my pants. I looked down at Sasuke who handed me his plate, his face covered in chocolate.

"C'mere, squirt," I said as I grabbed a paper towel and wet it in the sink.

When I got finished rubbing the chocolate off his face, I let him go do whatever it was he wanted to do. I poured a bowl of cereal and made a cup of tea. When the tea was finished, I turned and found Sasori's lips on mine.

He held me tight for a moment then let me go with a smirk, "For breakfast."

I raised an eyebrow, "Who says that's what I wanted?"

"Last night, you made it pretty clear," he said. "Stay conscious and you might get what you really want."

"You said I wasn't allowed to go to the lake without you. And I'd rather go without you, so I guess I can't get what I want at all."

"Boots, I was just playing," he said, trying to end the new anger in me.

I glared at him, "After all I've been through, that's something you think is acceptable to joke about?" I sighed as I rested my head on his shoulder. "Whoever leaves next needs to buy a list of stuff I'm going to need for the next week or you're going to have to tie me to a chair and shove me in a room."

I grabbed my cereal and went to the table and ate in silence. I didn't need any more problems for the moment. I needed to figure out how to deal with these guys and my upcoming period for the next few days.


	14. Four Children

Once I was finished with breakfast, I put all the dishes in the dishwasher and let Sasori worry about the rest. I was about to be their worst nightmare. As I ran my fingers through my hair, I just tried to let my mind calm down.

The raging hormones that could set me off at any moment at any given time… My ability to comprehend jokes was destroyed. Everything became serious for an entire week.

Sasori was going to have to get over it. If those guys came after me, I would teach them a lesson they would _never_ forget.

I went to the lake to calm down, or at least gain some form of common sense. As I rolled up the sweatpants I was still wearing, I looked around for the psycho neighbors. Seeing no one, I allowed my feet to swish around in the water.

I wasn't left in peace long.

"Miss us, girl?"

I stopped swishing my feet as I looked back to see the guys from the day before, still with their guns.

"Sasori gave you fair warning," I told them. "But I didn't warn you. Leave and I'll spare you. I'm not in the best mood today. Mess with me and you will suffer the consequences."

I was snatched up and found my feet planted on the deck, staring at the younger of the two, who looked furious and rather lustful. "You owe me a gun."

"I don't owe you anything," I said, pulling my arm from his grasp. "Now, go away before I really get pissed."

He laughed, the stink of aged alcohol coming off his breath. "Whatcha gonna do? Call Harper's boy down here?"

I placed my hands on my hips, "I don't need him for protection. I've got a psycho pyromaniac as a best friend."

I pointed behind them, which they both turned to see, and I took the handheld pistol from him, cocked it and put it at the guy's head. His eyes widened as he stared at me, "Y-You'll go down for murder."

"You think I'm afraid of that?" I asked him. "You're trespassing. I don't much appreciate it. This is your last warning. Get lost or next time, I'll actually call my friend that likes to make things blow up. And I'll make sure he makes you blow up one piece at a time. Now go and I'll get your gun back to you when you're off the property."

They walked off. I took the cock off and placed the gun next to me as I sat down and let my feet dangle in the water.

Again, my peace was interrupted.

"Why do you have a gun, un?" Deidara asked as he sat next to me, crossing his legs under him.

"To kill people with, obviously," I stated as I swished my feet in the water.

"Where'd you get it, un?"

"Psycho neighbors," I told him. "I wasn't in the mood to play their games. Of course, I threatened them with you first. So, why are you down here?"

"When we couldn't find you in the house, Sasori told me to check for you down here. Whatever happened in the kitchen must have really pissed you off for him not to get you himself, un."

"I'm not mad at him," I said as I looked over the lake. "But if you guys don't want me to murder someone, you need to take me to a gas station or something because I will reign hell on this house."

Deidara peeked a curious look from behind his bangs, "What's up? I thought you were fine, un."

I blushed slightly, "Typical women problems, Deidara."

His face paled, "God, if you're anything like my exs-"

"I have yet to meet someone that can stand my wrath," I told him. "I've been sedated before. I was in the hospital already for surgery because I broke my arm and they had to put pins in my arm, but I was laying in bed getting ready for surgery and the nurse came in and said something that set me off and I punched her in the face. Sedated me right then. Ever since I've been taking Pamprin or something to help with the mood swings, but I might need something stronger."

Deidara held the gun, "You held this to someone's head. I think you need something stronger, un."

I sighed as I stood up, "Well, I guess I better tell Sasori I'm not mad at him. Will you take that to the psycho neighbors? They probably know you're the psycho pyromaniac."

Deidara grabbed my hand, keeping me there for a moment as he stood up. His eyes studied me as we stood on the dock. "Are you alright, un? Really?"

"I think I am," I said honestly. "When I go back home…I don't know what will happen. But for now, I think I'm over it."

Deidara smiled and hugged me tight, "Good, un. Can't have you going crazy. It's good that Sasori's actually found a girl, un."

I blushed with a slight smile, "We'll see, Deidara. I've still got to figure out this…organization."

Deidara grinned, "You're practically family already, un. Even if you don't make it into the organization, I'll talk to you at school."

I raised an eyebrow at him, "Were you not going to?"

He grinned cheekily, "I don't know, un."

I sighed, "You're an idiot, Deidara. But, I love you anyway. I don't know why yet. I don't think I ever will."

Deidara laughed, "Go tell Sasori that, un. I've got a gun to return."

I rolled my eyes and wandered back to the house.

When I walked in, Sasuke ran to me, clinging to me with a fear in his eyes I had never seen before. "Someone's here," he said quietly. "I don't know where Big Brother and Sasori are."

I picked up Sasuke and stepped silently through the house, making my way to Sasori's room. When I opened the door, Sasori wasn't in there either. I put the boy down and locked it. "Stay here," I told him. "I'll come for you when it's safe. Open the door for no one but me."

"How will I know it's you?"

"I'll push this ring under the door," I told him, showing the ring on my finger.

Seeing a carving knife on Sasori's table, I grabbed it and walked out of the room, closing the door behind me. No one would dare enter Sasori's room. Sasuke was safe. That much was true.

I made my way to the guest room and found a car I didn't recognize. Had the psycho neighbors gotten in?

I left the guest room and wandered to the living room where two men stood. They weren't the neighbors.

I stayed in the shadows of the hall, waiting to find out their purpose for being in Sasori's house to begin with.

"She's here," the guy said. "They brought her clothes here. She's got to be here."

"They must have left," the other observed. "Itachi brought the brat with him. Not much for them to do."

I slammed my hand in the back of that guy's neck, knocking him out then put the carving knife at the other's throat. "I don't know what you want or why you're here, but I'll kill you and your friend if you don't get the hell out. Now, pick him up and get out."

I heard the door open and the guy I had the knife to smirked, "Might want to rethink that."

I smirked, "No, you might."

"Is Sasuke safe?" Itachi asked as he ran into the room.

I held out my left hand, "Take the ring and slide it under Sasori's door. He'll open the door."

Itachi pulled the ring off and ran off while Sasori walked up to me, taking the carving knife from me. "Are you always this deadly when I leave harmless things around and you're hormonal?"

I couldn't answer as I just stared at him, his evil aura sending too much fear into to make me speak. I flinched when he touched me. Almost instantly, the evil went away and I hugged him.

"Where's the ring?" Sasori asked, making sure the guy that had broke in wasn't going anywhere. "You aren't supposed to take it off."

"I had to keep Sasuke safe," I told him. "I told him not to open the door unless the ring came under the door, so Itachi took it from me." I glared at him, "Where the hell were you? You left Sasuke here all by himself?"

"Deidara was up here."

I sighed as I rested my face in my hands, "God, I've just adopted four children and one of them is actually a child."


	15. Safety Measures

Itachi walked out with Sasuke, "Take care of him," he told me, passing Sasuke on to me. "Keep him safe."

He gave me the ring and I took Sasuke down to the lake where Deidara was walking back from the neighbor's house. "What are you doing back, un?" Deidara asked.

"You forgot there was a child in the house," I glared. "Sasuke almost got hurt."

Deidara looked at the house, "Who's in there, un?"

"Sasori and Itachi just got back from somewhere. I don't know who broke in but they're after me," I said as I held Sasuke's hand. "Apologize to Sasuke."

"It's ok, Boots," Sasuke said.

"No, it isn't," I told Sasuke. "Both of us were put into harm's way because of Deidara and he should apologize."

Deidara sighed and kissed my cheek, "There. I'm sorry." He squatted down to Sasuke's level and ruffled the kid's black hair, "Sorry kid, un."

I rolled my eyes as Deidara stood up, his attention back on the house.

"Aren't you going to help them?" I asked.

"No, un," he said. I had never heard Deidara this serious before. It worried me a bit. "I can't leave you and Sasuke unprotected," he explained.

Sasuke grinned up at me, "Deidara's amazing! He can do this crazy stuff with-"

Deidara covered the boy's mouth with his hand and laughed a bit, "You'll understand with time, un. I don't want to show you unless I have to."

"As long as it's not weird like Sasori's freaky human puppets," I said as I stared at the house with a shudder. "Mess shouldn't happen. It's not right."

Deidara raised an eyebrow, "You have a problem with his human puppets? You're a girl, un."

I narrowed my eyes at him, annoyed at the comment, "What's that supposed to mean?"

"You like dolls," Sasuke stated bluntly, but innocently.

Deidara grinned, "He gets it."

"I never liked dolls," I told them. "I've always been afraid of things that looked like they could be alive but weren't. Like dolls."

Soon, Sasori and Itachi stepped out of the house and Sasuke jerked out of my grip running to his brother. I chased after him, tackling the child to the ground.

After checking him over and making sure he wasn't hurt, I kneeled to his level, "Do you understand why you don't run?" I asked.

He nodded with a pout and tears in his eyes, "I'm sorry."

I hugged him tight, "It's alright, Sasuke. Just stay with me in case when there's danger, alright?"

"But, you got hurt," he sniffled with teary eyes.

I chuckled as I kissed his forehead, "Don't worry, sweetheart. I've had much worse. I'll be fine. Let's go see your brother."

Itachi sighed as he picked up Sasuke, "I never thought someone twice his size would tackle him."

I grinned as I rubbed the back of my neck, "Well, you know…whatever it takes to keep him safe. I'll kill him with love if I have to."

"Are you alright?" Sasori asked me as he plucked a leaf off my shoulder then dusted my back off.

"Yeah," I told him. "Never better. Is it always this adventurous out here?"

"Only since you came," Sasori said a bit annoyed that his house had been invaded with so much attention.

I glared at him, "I didn't ask you to bring me out here."

He reached into his pocket and handed me a box, "Please take the entire bottle. I got you enough to last you a month. Just…stop."

I raised an eyebrow as I looked at the box. I laughed as I looked at the box. Pamprin.

"How'd you know? I didn't even give you a list," I told him.

"I'm not going to embarrass you," Sasori told me. "I just know. Just…put it in my parents' bathroom so we don't have to deal with it."

I laughed, "You're so manly about it. Good grief."

Sasori pointed at Sasuke, "I don't want to explain it to him."

I gently kissed Sasori. His eyes widened and his mouth slightly opened as he stared at me, unable to comprehend what happened. Itachi just smirked while Sasuke made a face at the action. He must have been against kissing still.

I just smiled, "For getting me stuff. Thanks."

I went inside, hiding the growing blush on my cheeks. Things were finally looking up in my life.


	16. Relocation

As the week progressed, we had fewer run ins with problems as long as I took the Pamprin, though I was still just as much a handful as Sasuke. When Deidara finally took me home, I was excited to spend a couple days alone. I didn't want to see anyone or talk to anyone. If I did, I was sure I would kill them.

The guys did an amazing job on my room. The burnt orange color looked incredible and Deidara had put some sort of artistic design on the walls in black, silver, and white. It looked nice.

Now that I was back in an area where my phone could get service, I noticed I had eleven missed calls from people in Uzushio. I sighed. Wonderful.

I opened my phone and called Kimi back since she had called the most. The hyper-active girl was Akemi's best friend. I wasn't sure why she was calling me.

"Why didn't you answer my calls?!" Kimi yelled.

"I didn't have service," I said. "I'm not with Akemi either. What do you want?"

"Just seeing how Ame is," she said. "I was reading about the Uchiha Industries and saw a picture of Itachi. He's pretty hot. Have you met him yet? Is he single?"

"Yes. I don't know," I replied.

She groaned, "What good are you?"

"I've been making new friends," I told her.

She cackled, "Right. Because people want to be your friend."

I rolled my eyes, "Akemi left with my mom and Kenta. I don't know where."

"Any hot guys in Ame?" She asked.

"Opinions vary, Kimi," I said. "And I wouldn't want you chasing away any I thought were."

She sighed, "You're no fun."

I hung up and fell on my small bed. I just wanted to rest. To be left alone. I didn't want to see anyone. I didn't want to deal with anyone.

I fell asleep.

I woke up to someone knocking on my window. Being in the attic…that didn't make sense. I sighed as I got up and walked to the window and pushed it open, finding myself face to face with Deidara.

"What do you want, Deidara?" I asked, straining through a cramp.

"I've been calling you for two days, un," he said. "We were worried."

I sighed as I walked away, letting him in and I fell back onto my bed. "Whatever," I muttered. "Do whatever you want, I don't care. Just let me sleep."

Soft fingers ran down my cheek. I opened my eyes to see Sasori gazing down at me. I closed my eyes again, "What?"

"Do you want me to bring you something?"

"No, it won't help," I told him. "It's called hibernating. You should try it."

The bed dipped from Sasori's weight. "Sleeping this much isn't good for you."

"Bleeding this much once a month isn't good for you either, but you don't see people freaking out about it," I snapped.

He ran his fingers through my hair, "I'm sorry."

I sighed under his touch. For him to have never had a girlfriend, he knew how to treat a girl. It made me wonder if he watched those romance movies. That would be weird.

I heard Deidara climbing up the ladder. "I brought pills, un," he announced.

"I don't need them," I told him. "I need sleep."

"You've been asleep for the past two days," Deidara told me. "I've been in here and watched you sleep, un."

"That doesn't surprise me," I said. "Glad you care. You're just going to have to get used to it. I sleep during school too. It's just what I do. Go away."

I knew Deidara was smiling. "We'll keep you company, un."

I put my pillow over my head and groaned. "Please go away."

The pillow was pulled out of my grasp and I looked at Sasori. "You need to get up," he told me.

I sat up, glaring at him. "Don't even act like you know what's best for me. Don't go there. Don't put me in the general rule. I'm not part of the general rule."

I sighed as I got up and slid down the ladder, heading to the kitchen. I found some cereal and ate it dry. The milk had expired a few days ago and I had to throw it away. Making them buy groceries didn't do any good if they let them expire.

Sasori walked into the kitchen and smiled slightly, "Was that so hard?"

"I'm going to puke in an hour," I told him. "I always do."

He frowned. He put his hand on my face and I leaned in to his cool touch. "Boots, you have a fever," he told me. "No wonder you want to sleep."

"Told you," I said. "I need to sleep."

"You need a doctor," he said.

"I'm not going to the doctor," I argued.

"I just need sleep," I told him. "I'll be fine in a few days."

"Or dead," Sasori told me sharply.

I didn't realize the ring was gone until there was this irrational feeling of fear taking over me.

"We're taking you to the doctor," he said.

I backed away from him and hid behind Deidara.

Deidara sighed, "You can't control her like that, un."

Sasori tossed the ring to Deidara and he placed it on my hand. "Don't worry, un. I'll take care of you."

I couldn't believe I was going to the hospital. Deidara kept his arm around me as we sat in the back of Sasori's car.

Back to square one.

I wasn't particularly excited about sitting in the emergency room for an hour, but we had to.

"I don't see why we're at the ER," I told them. "This isn't an emergency."

"As much physical abuse as you get, you don't think you could have some sort of something wrong with an ovary?" Sasori asked.

I rested my head on Deidara's shoulder, still feeling tired. I wasn't feeling awesome at all. And, like promised, I went to the bathroom and threw up the cereal I had eaten earlier.

Finally, they called me back. Deidara and Sasori went back with me because I was too afraid to go back. I'd never seen a doctor before. I didn't know what to expect. After the nurse took my vitals, the only thing that was normal was my blood pressure. And she said that was a little low. My heart rate was over 100. My fever was 102.

I was panicking.

Deidara held my hand with a smile, "You're doing fine, un."

I was shaking when the door opened. The tall doctor didn't make me feel any better. He was probably 30 something with thick black hair and dark brown eyes behind frameless glasses. He was attractive, but still made me nervous.

"Hello, I'm Dr. Yasei," he introduced, shaking all of our hands, holding mine tightly and lingering a bit longer as if to make me more comfortable, but it only made me more nervous. I didn't need a friend, I wanted to go home and sleep. "Are you Boots?" He asked me kindly.

"Yes," I replied.

He smiled. He flipped through the chart in front of him, "You're here for…" he frowned slightly and looked at Deidara and Sasori, "Are you comfortable speaking about this with them in the room?"

"I've had to put up with them all day," I said bluntly. "And all last week. If they get uncomfortable, they can leave. It's their fault I'm here. I was fine sleeping it off."

Dr. Yasei smiled a bit, "With a fever of 102, you don't need to sleep it off. But sleeping is part of a menstrual cycle."

"Not for two solid days, un," Deidara said.

I gave him a tired glare, "Shut up, Deidara."

The doctor wrote something down, "Do you always have this problem?"

"Like clockwork," I said. "I can't eat for a week either. There's probably something wrong with that, but I don't worry about it."

The doctor nodded. "I want to draw some blood-"

"What?" I asked, panicked at the statement.

"This is her first time being to a doctor," Sasori explained.

Dr. Yasei stared at me, "Really? I see. Stand up, please."

I didn't like the way he ran his hands over me. I whimpered every so often when it hurt or I thought he was going to hit me.

"What's your home life like?" Dr. Yasei asked me.

"It's home," I told him, annoyed by the question. "I can't ask for better. Couldn't imagine worse."

He sighed, "We're going to need to do some X-Rays. And I need you to tell me what happened to you."

"Nothing happened. Unless you want to talk about the guy that put a knife to my back and threatened to kill me last week. Or the two times I was held at gun point. I'm still not quite over that yet. These are just typical accidents. I live in an attic. I'm not exactly careful."

"You can't wear any jewelry and if your bra has a wire, you need to take that off," the doctor said.

I looked at the ring on my thumb then looked at the doctor, "I don't want to go alone. Can they come?"

"No, they should stay here," he said.

I pulled off the ring and shakily handed it to Sasori then followed the doctor out of the room. The room he took me to was dark.

"Why is it dark?" I asked.

"To make the X-Rays clearer," he explained. "My X-Ray tech will take good care of you and I'll return to your room when I have the results."

The X-Ray tech positioned me on a table with some heavy vest over me. He said it was to block out radiation. Wasn't that the point of X-Rays though? Whatever.

When I walked out, Deidara was standing next to the door. He smiled at me. "That wasn't so bad, was it, un?"

"I want to go home," I told him as he gave me the ring. "Please, can we leave?"

Deidara put his arm around me, taking me back to the room, "Not until the doctors say so."

Sasori was standing against the wall. He didn't look happy about something.

"Something happen, un?" Deidara asked.

"Not yet," Sasori said.

His eyes were so angry, but his face remained expressionless. I hated seeing Sasori like that.

"What did they say, un?" Deidara asked.

The door opened and a woman with a small wire basket walked in. "I'm here for your blood draw."

Panic. Pure panic.

I jumped away from Deidara, nearly knocking the woman over as I got to Sasori. "Don't let her. Please, Sasori."

"I need to know what you're afraid of," Sasori said. "Needles? We can fix that."

I shook my head as I stared at the kit she had prepared. "Blood," I told him. "Please don't let her do it, Sasori. I can't handle it."

He ran his fingers through my hair, "Boots…I need you to trust me. It will help you get better. I won't let anything happen. Remember, I could be a doctor."

The woman didn't look like she was convinced I would behave through the procedure. I wasn't exactly sure I would either. Sasori kept my head against his chest and forced me not to look.

I forced myself to focus on his heartbeat as I closed my eyes. It soothed me as I rested against him. I knew he wouldn't let anything happen. I whimpered slightly when I felt something stick into my arm, but Sasori shushed me and continued to run his fingers through my hair. After what felt like an eternity, the needle was removed and she wrapped my arm.

"The doctor will be in to see you shortly," she said and left.

Deidara chuckled, "I'll remember not to let you be in a hospital again, un."

"Why didn't you tell us before you were afraid of blood?" Sasori asked.

"I'm afraid of watching myself bleed," I told him. "I don't like it. And…she had tubes. She's collecting it. I would have to see exactly how much I was losing. I don't like the thought."

Deidara gave me a blank look, "So watching us bleed is fine, un."

I smiled, "Yes."

"You're a jerk, un," he said.

It felt like forever before the doctor came back in. Dr. Yasei was frowning as he looked at the X-Rays he had brought back. "Your X-Rays came back," he told me. "They're pretty interesting. I've never seen bones like yours before."

He stuck them on this light thing on the wall and turned it on. Parts of my bones were glowing brighter than others. He circled the brighter parts with his pen, "This is where you've broken bones and they've grown back together. You're lucky that they didn't grow back into some of your organs."

I just looked at him, "I'm not here for bones. I'm here for the 102 fever and the fact my ovaries are fighting back every month."

"We're giving you birth control to try," he said. "It will even out your hormones and hopefully you'll be able to eat. You're clearly malnourished. Drink fruit smoothies. Your stomach should be able to handle them."

We were able to leave. I stared at the prescription. Birth control? Wonderful.

"How much fun do you plan on having now, un?" Deidara asked with a grin.

"None," I told him. "I plan on going home and sleeping. I'll drink the fruit smoothies, but that's it. They're not going to pay for the pills."

"Then you pay for them," Sasori said.

"With what money?" I asked him. "I have to buy my own food. It'll be a miracle if Deidara takes me to the store to get that."

"Get the pills," Sasori said. "Your insurance will cover it."

I glared at him, "Stop telling me what to do."

Sasori took the prescription from me and shoved it in his pocket before I could get it back. I glared at him and stuck my hand in his pocket to get it back.

Deidara laughed at Sasori's shocked face.

"No," Sasori said, pushing me back. "It's for the best that you take this. You got your wish that those monsters that you live with don't know about the abuse, but you are taking these pills."

I glared at him and crossed my arms over my chest with a huff, "Asshole."

He kissed my forehead, "You'll be fine. Maybe better. But your fever hasn't gone down. Let's get you a smoothie and I'll take you home to sleep."

I huffed and got in the car. I walked in a drug store and handed the lady the prescription. Deidara had walked in with me because he needed toothpaste and the woman gave me a knowing look. I snarled at her and stormed out.

"What's wrong?" Sasori asked when I nearly slammed the door.

"The asshole pharmacist thinks I'm getting the birth control because of Deidara," I growled.

Sasori sighed, "Well-"

"Don't go there, Sasori," I said angrily.

He looked at me, "Stop being angry. Or stop taking it out on us."

"Then find me someone else to take it out on."

"School starts next week," he said.

"I have to start looking for a job then," I said quietly. "That'll be awesome."

"You plan on working, un?" He asked as Deidara climbed in.

"Yeah," I said. "Why is that so surprising?"

"I just don't see you working with your attitude, un," he said.

I glared at him. "Thanks."

Deidara grinned, "She's been awesome with people Sasori, un. She won over you and Itachi. All of Itachi's family, un! And she can make Sasuke behave. That's a miracle, un."

I rolled my eyes as I looked out the window. They took me to a smoothie place and I got a fruit smoothie, praying it wouldn't make me puke. That was the last thing I needed to make my day worse.

We stayed at the smoothie shop for about an hour before heading back to the drug store where the woman handed me the birth control, "Enjoy," she told me.

I just stood there, debating whether or not to just kill her or torture her. I felt a hand on my shoulder and looked up at Sasori. "Come on," he said.

"Seriously? You had someone else last time," I heard her say.

Sasori's grip tightened on my shoulder as he literally pushed me out the door. "Take one, right now," Sasori demanded. "I will shove it down your throat if you don't."

I glared at him and got in the car. I opened the box and popped one of the pills in the packet taking it with the smoothie. It would take forever for this stuff to work. Whatever. I didn't care.

Sasori took me home and I went up to my room, not caring if they left or stayed. I was happy with my fruit smoothie and the thought of a nap. When I finished my fruit smoothie, that's exactly what I did.

Sleep.

When I woke up, I wasn't alone. I could smell wood and another scent. Some sort of body wash or something. I was snuggled up against it and didn't really care, but I was a bit concerned how the two of us fit on my small bed.

"What are you doing?" I asked Sasori, not bothering to look at him. The smell gave him away.

"Nothing," he said. "Kind of hard to with you on top of me."

"Why are you here?"

"You've been asleep for two days again," he said."

I smiled as I snuggled against him, "Means hibernation's over. And school starts tomorrow."

"Your family is returning tonight," he said.

I nodded, not bothering to move just yet. "What are you going to do while we're in school?"

"I've got a life, believe it or not," he said. "I'm moving."

I didn't let him see my pain. "Moving's fun," I said with a smile as I looked up at him. "You get to meet new people."

"And leave your friends behind," he said as he lightly grazed my cheek with his finger. "It's something the Leader wants me to do. I have to see where he wants me to go. I'm sorry."

I shrugged as I sat up, "Whatever. It's your thing, not mine."

I took off the ring and offered it to him, "I won't need it. I won't be in danger anymore."

His eyes searched mine for a while, "Either you mean it or you're really good at hiding your emotions."

I looked away, "Do you really think I want you to leave? That I want to give this back? I don't want you to leave. But it's your duty to your organization, Sasori. And," I put the ring in his hand, "this is part of your organization. Deidara will protect me…for now. But…it's best this be our goodbye. Before it becomes too emotional. While we can still pretend it doesn't hurt."

He placed something in my hand, "I'm coming back."

I looked at the ring.

"Because Deidara can't protect you all the time. But I can at least try. Don't forget to take your pills. I don't want you to be all angry the next time you see me."

I smiled, "Just call ahead and I'll let you know."

He gave me a small smile, "That would ruin the surprise. Good luck in school. I'll let you know when I get placed somewhere."

He gave me a short kiss and was out the window before I could tell him goodbye.

I stared at the ring in my hand.

Sasori…

The man that I barely knew and stole my heart. I noticed something on my dresser. When I got up and walked over to it, I smiled ever so slightly as tears began to form in my eyes. It was a small piece of wood that had my name carved elegantly in it. Only Sasori could work that kind of magic with wood.

When Kenta, Akemi, and my mother returned, they barely noticed me. They didn't yell or try to hit me, so I assumed that was good. Nothing happened.

In the morning, after a fruit smoothie breakfast, Akemi drove me to school. She told me all about the vacation they went on. The beach. She talked about all the boys she met and how hot they were.

When we got to school, we were given schedules and directed where to go. Literature, Gym, History, Physics, and Calculus. There was a break and a lunch in there, but I didn't care much for them.

When I walked towards my locker, I noticed people starting to part as if someone important was coming. Deidara.

He smiled when he saw me, "Hey! Did you see Sasori before he left, un?"

"Yeah, I sort of woke up with him under me," I said as I started twisting the lock on my locker. "I noticed all the people parting the way and I thought someone important was coming. Didn't realize it was you."

Deidara glared at me, "Heard from him yet, un?"

"No," I said. "He just left, Deidara. I'm guessing it'll be at least a week before I hear from him, if I hear from him at all."

"If, un?" Deidara asked, a bit surprised.

"It…happened so fast," I said. "Sasori could move on just as fast. It's not like-"

"He left that ring with you, un," Deidara said. "If anyone more important than you comes around, he'll come back for it and take it. Guaranteed, un."

I looked at him and nodded. I had nothing else but his word to go by.

"There is a chance he won't tell you though, un," Deidara said giving me a sad look. "I'll let you know if he can't tell you so you won't worry."

"Why wouldn't he be able to tell me?"

"Usually when we move out, it becomes secret where we go, un. He could move back here and you won't even know it unless you stumble across him. He can't go looking for you, un."

"I don't like your rules," I said.

Deidara smiled as he took the hand that had the ring, "That's why Sasori wanted you to know how important you were to him, un. He'll come back for you."

Was it weird that I was almost certain I was in love with this man that was two years older than me? No. Was it weird for a junior to be in love with a guy that should be a freshman in college, probably. But, it didn't matter. Not at the moment.

The only thing weird was that he was part of an…organization…that wouldn't let him keep in contact with me and he had a strange ability to make human puppets and could put a fear in me that made me so terrified of everything I could barely speak.

I sighed as I went on to my first class. I was glad we didn't have to introduce ourselves. But people were giving me strange looks. I was the girl that dared to talk to Deidara. Great. Literature was uneventful other than the looks. Some were glares from girls. They were evidently too afraid of what others would think or too afraid of Deidara's reputation to speak to him.

Cowards.

Gym was next. Absolutely beautiful class mixed with the seniors. I grinned as I saw Deidara with all of his hair pulled up. His annoyed look faded to a grin when he saw me.

"Finally this class won't be boring, un," he said. "Are you any good at gym?"

"Nope," I said with a smile. "I was on the swim team, but running and stuff, nothing."

He just looked at me, "That doesn't make sense, un."

"I can fight too," I said. "I never back down from that. Track and stuff, nope."

He laughed, "You're an idiot, un."

I glared at him, "You're an idiot."

"Daisan!" The coach yelled. "Stop flirting with your girlfriend and get over here! I need a demonstration!"

Daisan was Deidara's last name? That was interesting.

Deidara groaned as he walked over to the large muscular coach.

The coach gave me an annoyed look, "What are you waiting for, Princess? An invitation? You too!"

I walked to the mat, shoving my hands into my gym shorts pockets. I was the only girl wearing guy gym shorts. That was annoying.

"Alright, we're going to learn the basics of wrestling today!" The coach announced.

I looked at Deidara who was looking at me with the same expression.

We were wrestling each other?

"Coach, am I supposed to wrestle Deidara?" I asked.

"You got a problem, Princess?" The coach asked. "In life you don't pick your opponent."

I shrugged as I stood there, "In life, you don't wrestle. You fight for your life. Teaching us how to wrestle is pointless. But thanks for trying."

Deidara sighed, "You should not have spent that week at Sasori's, un."

The coach looked at Deidara, "She's Manazashi's girl?"

"Yep, un," Deidara said.

The coach sighed, "Great. Just what I need. Another freak."

I glared at him, "You got a problem, pops? Want to settle it real quick, cause I'll put you in your place real quick."

He raised an eyebrow, "You're Akemi's sister. The one that all the teachers have been talking about. Have you tried counseling?"

"Tch," I scoffed. "You're no better than the others. Forget this."

"No wonder she fights," I heard the coach say.

"Finish that sentence and you'll have a black eye, un," Deidara warned. "She doesn't play."

It was good being back. I felt human again, but I still had an empty spot. One that Sasori had filled.

After gym, we had a break. I went out the front door and sat under a tree.

"You're hard to find, un," Deidara said.

"I'm thinking about getting my license," I told him. "Will you take me?"

He stared at me, "Are you serious, un?"

"Yeah."

"Do you know how to drive, un?" He asked skeptically.

"Yeah," I assured him. "Do you trust me?"

He sighed, "It will be one time and one time only, un."

I smiled. "Thanks, Deidara."

"How are you going to get a car, un?"

"I'll use Akemi's," I said. "I just need a job. That's the problem."

"If you prove you're a good driver and get a job, I will let you use my car to go to your job, un," Deidara said.

I stared at him, "What?"

He nodded, "I can borrow one of Itachi's, un. Or you can. You might be able to borrow one of his, un. Ask him."

"I can't do that," I said.

"Sure you can, un," he said. "You took care of Sasuke while we were at Sasori's. You tamed the wild beast that he is, un. He'll let you borrow one of his cars for this."


	17. Akatsuki Studio

At the end of the school day, my phone rang. I sighed and answered it.

"Yes dear?" I answered sarcastically.

There was a pause. "Are you already over Sasori and coming onto me?"

I slammed my palm onto my forehead, "Deidara didn't," I groaned.

Itachi chuckled, "Deidara did."

"Itachi, I'll be fine."

"No, I insist. Until you get a car of your own. It'll be fine."

"Don't make it expensive or I'll take Deidara's car," I told him. "I'm getting enough attention as the raped girl with anger issues that's hanging out with Deidara."

He chuckled, "I'll see what I can do."

He hung up and I saved the number. Damn Deidara.

Within the week, I had my license. Unfortunately, an inexpensive car was an old remodeled Corvette. And Deidara wasn't allowed to drive it because of his driving record. That made me feel safe.

As I applied for jobs around town, I found an art store. The Akatsuki Studio. A giant NOW HIRING sign had caught my attention, but I also figured I could get something for Deidara while I was there.

When I walked in, I was a bit let down. They only sold art. But they were local artists. I walked around, looking at everything curiously. Finally, I went to the cashier, a girl who was twirling her hair and popping her gum while catching up on the latest celebrity gossip.

"Do you have anything by-"

"No," she said.

"Can I have-"

"No."

"But-"

"Don't care," she told me.

No wonder they were hiring.

I looked around the counter and found the job applications. Grabbing the pen off the cash register caught her attention as I started filling out the application.

"Just what do you think you're doing?!" She yelled.

"Applying for the position they have open," I told her.

"We aren't hiring," she said.

I gestured to the sign in the window.

Her face turned red with fury, "That bastard!"

She stormed off.

I raised an eyebrow as she ran off.

"We don't have enough business for you to hire someone else!" I heard the girl scream.

"Is someone applying?"

My heart skipped a beat at the slightly familiar voice. I didn't want to get my hopes up so I continued filling out the application, ignoring the fight that was going on in the back.

My hand was shaking. I couldn't think anymore. I finally just wrote 'Emergency came up, will return to finish.'

I walked out of the store and fell off the sidewalk onto the concrete. Slowly pushing myself back up, I managed to get back to my feet and stumble to the Corvette where I just sat for a while. I couldn't drive.

I pulled out my phone and pushed the voice dial. "Call Deidara," I demanded.

"Hello, un," he answered.

"I need you to come pick me up," I said, my voice shaking.

"Are you alright, un?" He asked, clearly concerned.

"I-I don't know," I said. "I'm at the Akatsuki Studio. Please, just come get me."

"I'll be there in a minute, un" he said.

I rested my forehead on the steering wheel as I tried to breathe.

Had I heard Sasori's voice? Was it possible? Or did I just miss him that much?

Either way, I would have to return and finish the job application. Maybe when I knew I wouldn't have a mental break down.


	18. Interview

When Deidara arrived, I got out of the car and fell into his, still not quite able to walk right.

He gave me a sympathetic look, "What happened, un?"

"I thought I heard Sasori in there. I panicked. I was filling out a job application. I couldn't finish it because of it."

"You miss him," Deidara said quietly, gently taking my hand in his. "He'll come back to see you, un. I promise he will."

"I thought I was ok," I told him as Deidara started driving. "Then poof. I'm not."

He let go of my hand and put it around my shoulders, pulling me to where my head was on his shoulder. "We'll drive around for a bit then come back, ok, un? Let you settle down." Deidara gave me a smile, "How about I go in with you and help you out? Talk you through it so you can listen to me instead, un."

I looked at him and nodded. After 15 minutes of driving and a smoothie, he took me back to Akatsuki Studio. He parked and we went in. I grabbed his hand to calm my racing heart as I looked around again.

"Hey, are any of these yours?" I asked him.

"No, un," he told me.

He didn't let go of my hand as we walked around the store. He talked about the local artists, telling me how to get in and what they believed real 'talent' was. I scrunched my nose up as I looked at these paintings.

"My bedroom looks better than most of these paintings," I told him. "Have you tried putting something of yours in here?"

"Once," he admitted. "I'll tell you about it in the car. Ready to fill out the application, un?"

I nodded. The girl glared at me, but her attention was on Deidara when he spoke to her. I kept my full focus on the application. When I was finished filling it out, I handed it to the girl who gave me a too sweet smile and ripped it in half. "That's what I think about your application."

Deidara sighed, "I'll be right back, un."

He kissed my forehead and walked to the back where it said 'Employees Only'.

Did he work here?

After a moment, Deidara walked out with a sympathetic smile, "C'mon Boots. He's ready to interview you now."

I walked down the hall and stepped into the room. It was empty. I stepped in farther, wondering if there was somewhere else to go, but the door closed. I spun around and felt my heart hit the ground and fly at the same time.

Sasori…


End file.
